Made you Look
by Johnny Spectre
Summary: In the instant of meeting Eri, Izuku makes a ballsy choice and books it with her in his arms - and not cleverly, either. Overhaul watches as they get away... and so begins the Origin of the Greatest Hero of them all.
1. Grab and Run

***slurps noodles while staring at the screen, before noticing the camera* GAH! oh, sorry, you startled me.**

 **Surprised of this triple-threat? I know, me too. but I'm not complaining. This is another work I've been doing with rex101111 over on Tumblr and AO3. Where Izuku goes gung-ho about saving Eri at their initial meeting. Let's get it on!**

* * *

"It's an embarrassing topic…I don't want to talk about it out in the open…could you follow me this way?"

The Yakuza turns on his heels to face the alleyway, beckoning them both to come with him, Izuku feels the young girl in his arms clutching his costume even tighter, feels her shiver in uncontrolled fear against his chest, his heart beating faster in response. He wraps his arms around her, as if to cover every part of her, as if to make sure as little of her is visible to Chisaki.

"If anything happens," He hears Mirio whisper beside him, cautious and on edge, "Let me handle it. We've got no choice but to get her away from him."

As he gets to his feet and feels Eri curling up closer to him and putting her arms around his shoulders, he couldn't agree more, "My thoughts exactly, Toogata-senpai."

The muscles in his legs coil, the rushing fire of One For All ready to ignite.

Something in his voice must have given him away, because Mirio stiffens ever so slightly, "Midoriya, don't you _dare-"_

"What's taking you two?" Overhaul turns his head to look at them from behind, his eyes still calm and composed as ever, but cold bleach coloring his tone, "I hope, for my _daughter's_ sake, that you aren't planning on doing anything stupid."

(The way he says _daughter_ makes Izuku sick to his stomach. The same way one would talk about a prized car or an expensive piece of jewelry. An _object_ to be _owned_ not a person to be cared for. This makes the muscles in his legs coil even stronger.)

He places a calming hand on Eri's shivering head as he puts on a viciously innocent smile, "Of course not sir," He says, the quiet but flashing burn of his quirk streaking through his limbs, his voice calm but determined, "What I'm about to do isn't stupid…"

He lifts one of his feet of the ground by just a few inches.

"It _is_ reckless though."

He stomps his foot on the concrete, sending a cloud of debris up into the street and into the alley, the civilians around him scream in a panic and begin to flee, falling all over themselves in the process.

(At this point he isn't sure who's going to kill him first, Nighteye or Aizawa, but right now that is of little consequence.)

"Follow me!" He yells out as he starts sprinting in a random direction, once again feeling the fire going through him, scorching his heart and engulfing his soul as it cowls him, "Hang on Eri-chan." He whispers before he shoots across the pavement, not bothering to see if Mirio is on his lead, though hoping he has.

 _(if he had focused on some small corner in_ _the back of his mind, he might have heard the voice of a woman laughing her approval. Instead all he feels is One For All flaring more brightly then usual.)_

"That was _idiotic, Midoriya!_ " Comes the voice of his senior, tinged with new found anger, "You're lucky he didn't _kill us both_!" Despite his words, his mouth is twitching upwards, he's somehow keeping pace with him using his quirk to sink into the ground for momentum, "Let's hope this works! Or Nighteye will kick us _both_ off the internship!"

Only now does the thought that this might spell the end of his hero studies occur to him, although the weight in his arms, that hasn't stopped sobbing between fits of crying out either "I'm sorry" or "Thanks you", stops it from slowing him down.

"Let's deal with that later!" He says with a worried half smile, "Besides! You're not trying to stopping me!"

Mirio visibly struggles with what to say next before shaking his head, "Where are we _going_ anyway!?"

"Don't know!" Is Izuku's immediate response, he can feel Mirio shouting at him before he hears it, "Either UA or the office! Whichever is closer!"

"Or for the _love of-_ you first years keep getting _crazier!_ This way then!"

With that the two zip through the crowd, bounding their way to safety with the little girl in tow.

Behind them, still back at the alleyway entrance, sits the bird faced criminal, his eyes following every move they make, staying in place until they vanish into the horizon, he lets out a deep sigh, "This complicates things…"

His voice is calm, but his left arm twitches before flying up to swipe the nearby wall, the brick work expanding and then popping outward, pieces of it raining around him as a few more masked men follow out from the alley.

"Boss! I'm sorry they just flew out of nowhere and-!"

What ever that man would have said is lost beneth the crushing and rotting grip of Overhaul's palm, _"Shut your worthless mouth and **after them!** "_

The rest take little time in heading his shout, as they run off he takes a deep breath, slowly cleaning the blood the henchman left on his pal while Chronostasis coming up behind him, hands twitching in uncharacteristic panic, "If they get away -"

" _They won't_."

"Our plans will be _worthless -"_

" _They won't get away._ "

"We're so _close_ we just need -"

 _"I said they won't get away!"_ He bellows, taking one more deep breath before once more looking in the direction the young heroes ran off to, "It appears we have a terminal case of "Hero Syndrome" on our hands… sadly, such things only have _one cure_."

He turns on his heel, the darkness of the alley way swallowing him whole, "Bring him to me when you catch him… alive," His voice turns jagged and sharp, _"I want to make an example of him, in front of Eri, let's see her try and escape after **that**."_

As he sulks off in the direction of his hideout, Izuku and Mirio continue their escape, Eri safely tucked under the first year's arm.

"I'm sorry…" She says one more time, voice wet and hoarse from her crying, her tears soaking Izuku's costume all the way down to his undershirt, "I'm sorry for making you do this…"

"Don't be." Izuku says without hesitation, eyes trained forward but arms strong against her frame as they hold her to him, "This is what heroes are supposed to do!" She clutches her head to his chest, her one horn digging a little into his shoulder before he moves her a little so she's more comfortable, "Just keep holding on Eri-chan, we're almost there…"

She's quiet before doing as he says and tightening her grip around his shoulders, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He says, voice cracking just a bit at her renewed tears as he speeds up, taking her further and further away…

* * *

Deku held the girl tightly against him as he followed Lemillion bounding across the city skyline. His breathing ragged yet even as One for All coursed through his muscles.

Izuku's eyes lit up in relief as he saw Sir Nighteye's office come into view. "Don't worry, Eri-chan. We're almost to safety."

The small child shuddered closer to him as the two landed on the roof of the building. Mirio led them down the stairs to one of the offices, encountering a slender well dressed man with an unnerving insectoid head.

Mirio didn't miss a beat. "Centipeder, get Sir Nighteye and Bubble Girl back here. We have a situation."

Centipeder nodded and left while Izuku sat down with Eri still in his arms.

"It's alright, it's alright. You don't have to fear that man anymore…" he whispered to her gently. He felt Eri tense again before she looked at him with tearful eyes, trembling her lips as she managed to stutter out a single word.

 _"Why?"_ her voice cracking in stunted emotions.

Izuku felt his chest swell up and eight echoes in his mind of words that surpassed generations before him.

"Because I am here."

* * *

Overhaul reaches his hideout, every inch of him rattling with rage, his minions clear a path for him, scurrying away in the same manner rats would from a rabid wolf, his eyes scour for the small form of Mimic, one of his hands twitching on top of the form his phone makes from the inside of his pocket, waiting for the report that would make him stop wanting to murder someone.

"Boss?" The Yakuza turns his head towards the sound, finally landing on the tiny form of his general manager, who was holding a phone in his hand, somehow looking nervous from behind his mask, "I got a call for ya…another time?"

Overhaul opened his mouth to tell Irinaka to shove that phone down his throat, but a thought in the back of his head stops him, best know who it is first, "A call from _who,_ Mimic?"

"I-it's Shigaraki boss… it's about the offer we gave him a while back…should I tell him to call back?"

Shigaraki? Now? _On top of everything else? **Now?**_

Overhaul sees his well constructed plan flashing through his head, every piece of it slowly crumbling to _nothing_ the more he thinks about the fact that he let his _most important piece_ get taken away by some green haired little shi-

"B-Boss?"

"Give me the damned phone." He hisses, he needs to selvage something from this train wreck. The little man quickly complies, Overhaul taking a deep breath before he puts the device to his ear, "You have _impeccable_ timing, Shigaraki."

"Cut yourself shaving, Overhaul?" The raspy voice on the other side says, a tint of amusement filtering through, "You seem to be in a shitty mood."

"Hero society does that to me, as I'm sure you'll relate, I just need to kill someone and I'll be right as rain." He takes another breath, "I was told you wanted to talk about the offer I so generously gave you a while back?"

"Go fuck yourself, generous my _ass."_ Shigaraki drawls elegantly, his rasp somehow completely calm, "But yes, I want to talk to you about that, in person though, not through the phone," Overhaul could hear his dry lips curling over his teeth, "And on _my_ terms, not yours, I'm saying that right now."

"All in good time, Shigaraki," Overhaul says, more calm now that at least _one_ thing is going his way, "And I'll arrange a meeting don't worry, I just need to take of a few-"

"B-Boss?"

Overhaul sighs, "Hold on," He looks behind him to see some no name minion shaking in his boots as he worries his hands, "You have five seconds before you need to be cleaned up from these walls."

"W-We f-f-found the ones who took Eri, s-sir."

"And?"

"…They're in the Nighteye office… by the time we got there, it was already surrounded by police and other heroes…there was nothing we could do…"

"Nothing you could do? Is that right?" The minion nodded, shivering, and all at once Chisaki _explodes._ He forgets the phone he was still holding, and stomped his way to the henchman, screaming down his face, "I DON'T CARE IF YOU NEED TO DRIVE A DAMNED _CARBOMB_ INTO THAT BUILDING!" He grabbed the grunt by the throat, his quirk already taking effect, as he started screaming at every one within ear shot, "ALL OF YOU ARE GOING BACK THERE AND GETTING BACK ERI ALONG WITH THAT GREEN-HAIRED PEST OR YOU'LL ALL WISH I LEFT YOU IN THE DITCH I FOUND YOU!" All at once everyone, except for Mimic who had taken refuge from behind a corner, ran off without comment, leaving Chisaki to huff and sweat as he looked at the pile of blood that was a person not a moment ago, "AND SOMEONE CLEAN THIS SHIT UP!"

"Did you say green hair?"

Overhaul twitched, finally remembering the phone in his hand, grumbling as he took it back to his ear, "What?"

"I said did you say _green hair_?"

"…yes."

"Was it a kid? Did the shit have freckles?"

"…someone you know?"

"Someone I want to kill," Was the casual reply, Shigaraki's voice gaining something… tricky as he continued speaking and stopping Overhaul's rage in its tracks, "Someone who is giving me trouble, someone who's head I would very much like to see flying off his shoulders."

Chisaki could hear a smile forming, "Which, if by some chance that would happen, and I happen to see his head on the meeting table when I come for our little _talk,"_ Overhaul was dangerously calm by this point, that fact hidden by his mask, "…I might be more open to… _compromise."_

"...That so?"

"Call me when you aren't screaming your head off." And like that, he hang up, leaving Overhaul to consider exactly what to do next, his mind racing about, bouncing between all the ways he could use this to his advantage…

Mimic finally poked his head out from the corner, leering cautiously at Chisaki, "B-Boss?"

"Irinaka," He started, his trademark deadpan back in place, "Get me Rappa."

* * *

"Let me reiterate what you just told me." Nighteye stated in an even tone as he loomed over Izuku holding Eri in his arms. After surveying the complex, Bubble Girl had told him that Toogata and Midoriya had returned with reason. "You encountered Chisaki, spoke with him, and recklessly took his terrified daughter with little understanding of what your actions could very well cause."

"Y-yes, s-s-sir."

"But we have some proof of his actions, Sir!" Mirio stated to the side. "We know he's been doing something to his -"

"Toogata-senpai, please!" Izuku halted Mirio's defense as he felt Eri huddle in closer, shivering like ice. "It's going to be okay, Eri-chan, it's going to be okay…" he rubbed her back as he whispered to her.

Sir Nighteye looked at the scene with an analytical gaze. The press would have a field day over this if they saw face value, and the public would naively follow like a herd of sheep, bleating for falsified justice that would be cooked up. He crouched down to the child's level and waited for her to turn around. After some encouragement, Eri shakily looked into Sir's intense gaze. They only locked eyes for less than an instant before she curled into Izuku again, but it was long enough for Sir.

Nighteye saw two futures for this girl, a fission split down the middle. One had a lighter tone with the girl safe in Izuku's hands, light silhouettes of others surrounding the two, the girl looking content.

The other… dark, mangled. A lone withered figure standing on a pile of bodies, a bleeding knife in its hand as it held Chisaki's bloodied mask in the other. It fixed the mask on its face before it turned its gaze behind. An older, twisted woman looked back, eyes pale and hollow, a bronze horn coiling in her hair.

Nighteye reeled back and clutched his head as he panted, Bubble Girl at his side to keep him steady. After a moment Sir stood tall and looked back at Izuku. "What you did was incessantly arrogant, but your actions could have done much worse." he stated, keeping his breathing eased. "The world is not so kind that you can always save others through will alone. Today was a fluke, but in the long run it may have made things easier for us all." He turned away, but said one last thing.

"I'll contact Aizawa about this development, as well as other offices about teaming up to stop Chisaki. In the meantime, Deku…" Sir gazed back with a calculating eye. "She's your responsibility."

* * *

"I said _let me pass you piece of shit!"_

"And I said _get lost!_ What, you Yakuza have a hearing problem!?"

Outside the Nighteye Hero office was a massive commotion. Around the main building was a protective ring of security, both civilian and police officers along with more then a fair share of sidekicks stood shoulder to shoulder, preventing a rather large group of intimidating men in suits from entering the office.

"Our boss's kid is in there! What, Did heroes start kidnapping little kids whenever they felt like it!?"

One of the younger sidekicks clenched his teeth and took a few steps forward, about ready to knock a few teeth out before he was stopped by one of the older policemen, who then motioned with his head to the growing crowd of bystanders, and worse _reporters,_ that was slowly closing in on them.

The civilians were getting angry, some were shouting for child services to step in.

The reporters looked _ravenous._

The yakuza did not miss this, turning on his heel to shout towards the news crews, "Hey! These assholes are holding a little girl captive!"

"Wh-wait one second you _bastard-!"_

"We're trying to get her out but they won't let us through!" And on he went riling up the crowd, shouting and bellowing until everyone within ear shot was chanting and screaming for them to let the girl out, the reporters catching _everything_ on camera.

Just before everything went out of control, both the sidekick and the officer felt a thin hand on their shoulder, belonging to one Nighteye, who walked into the middle of the chaos with nary a hair out of place, "I am here to answer any questions and to clear up any confusion."

With that the chaos honed in on him, the reporters swarming him with question while the general public tossed out insults his way, the barrier of sidekicks and police barely holding them back, and finally one reporter managed to raise his voice above the rest, "Sir Nighteye-san! Is it true that you are currently holding a child in your office!?"

"A small child is currently under the custody of the Nighteye Hero office, yes."

Another pushed ahead, jabbing a microphone as close as he could to Nighteye's impassive face, "And what connection does this child have to this group of yakuza!?"

"These gentlemen are all under the employ of a man by the name of Chisaki-san, who is under investigation by both the police and my hero office for several criminal activities," Nighteye stopped to measure his next words, "The child is Chisaki's."

Yet another reporter stabbed a mic in his face, to no reaction, "Does the child and your custody of them have anything to do with these allegations!?"

"No," Was the cold and cutting answer, "The child's existence was unknown to us until two of my interns ran into them on the street, covered in bandages and scared out of their wits. My interns then decided that the best course of action would be take bring them back here."

"Which interns!? Are they from UA!? Are you accusing Chisaki-san of child abuse!?"

"All I can say on the matter is that it has been decided by both the police force and the government that until, and if, all the accusation against Chisaki-san have been cleared, that his child will remain under the custody of my office and UA academy." He then directed an ice cold glare across the crowd, focusing on every yakuza there, "And as such everyone here that isn't a police officer or a hero is _trespassing,"_ All the previously shouting civilians quieted and all the yakuza clenched their fists but did nothing, "So I would ask all of you to cease this racket and _leave,_ and know that we have the right to detain anyone who refuses."

It took some time, but soon the crowd dispersed, leaving only a few select yakuza behind…including one with a white bird mask.

He and Nighteye locked glares for one tense moment before a buzzing in the masked man's pocket made him break it, taking out a ringing phone which he answered. After a quick talk the man gave one last look towards the hero before turning on his heel and leaving, the rest of his companions following suit.

Nighteye patted the back of a few police and sidekicks, "Keep up the good work, you will soon receive assistance from other hero offices, stay watchful until then." He waited for the round of nods before he went back inside his office, the first thing he sees being Bubble clutching a phone worriedly.

"It's a call sir," She said, gulping loudly, "It's _Chisaki."_

"What? Well then why don't you give it to-"

"He wants to speak with _Midoriya."_

A stilled silence enveloped the room before Nighteye plucked the phone from Bubble's hand and placed it near his ear.

"You honestly must have a fair amount of confidence to contact my office and demand an intern, Chisaki-san, or would you prefer Overhaul?" Sir said.

"Chisaki, please. I'm calling about the welfare of _my daughter_." Chisaki said far too calmly. It send a dull chill down Sir's spine. "Now get me that green brat or things will get… inconvenient."

Nighteye glared slightly at the phone before he walked through his office to get to Izuku, who was finally able to get Eri to release her grip on his suit, even if she reattached herself to his arm as Sir came in.

"It's him." Nighteye stated, gauging the reaction as both tensed, Eri more so as she began to shiver again. Izuku looked to her before his gaze hardened and reached for the offered phone.

"Hello?" Izuku gulped.

"Finally. I was wondering what was taking Nighteye, or if he was stalling," Chisaki said, calm, but Izuku felt he was sitting on a time bomb as he continued. "You've really tested my patience today, boy. We should have had that pleasant chat in the alley. Now listen well: I want Eri back, and you will return her to me. Simple, right?"

Izuku felt Eri's grip tighten as she continued shaking. A quick glance to Mirio had him at her side rubbing her back to calm her as he responded. "Why is she so important to you?"

Chisaki grunted at the question. "She's my daughter. Why else would I need her back?"

"The way you acted around her says otherwise." Izuku felt his blood boil as One for All instinctively coursed in his head as he deliberated on everything he could think of. "Contrary to what you did, any parent would have immediately apologized to his or her child. Instead, you tried to get her and us away from public view. Meaning that you don't want anyone to know of her existence." The Ninth Bearer was mumbling in his head on reasons for why. And then he realized the one thing that made sense.

"That's absurd." He heard Chisaki respond. "How I raise Eri is no-"

"It's her Quirk, isn't it?" the room and line went quiet. "Her Quirk is something that you or your organization needs. Eri-chan looks to be four, maybe five years old, and no news has shown recent outbreaks in Yakuza activity, meaning that it only recently manifested and you've been doing something to her to use it for your own means." Izuku felt his hand clench around the phone. "And considering your own Quirk… that's two charges of Quirk abuse, tripled on the use of a minor. And on the likelihood Eri-chan isn't yours, that's another count for kidnapping and possible murder all wrapped in child abuse."

"You…!" He heard Chisaki seethe. "You're a case of Hero Syndrome that's rare; coupled with an internal bleeding heart. I was going to make it simple and quick, but now I'm going to be sure to go as painstakingly slow as I can. Shigaraki may just beg for it to end."

"Shigaraki!?" Izuku felt his breathing stall in his throat.

"So you _do_ know him." Chisaki chuckled. "And here I thought he was just a head case. Oh, speaking of heads, do you know how long the brain can survive on a normal human after decapitation?"

Izuku grit his teeth as he glared furiously at the phone.

"Twelve seconds. But thanks to my expertise, I've managed to extend it to… oh, about thirty minutes. Shigaraki was more than open to have your head on a platter for our meeting. And you know what the best part is?" Chisaki rasped in a harsh whisper. _"I'm going to make Eri watch every agonizing second of your suffering, so she will never escape from me again."_

Izuku bolted to his feet as One for All swirled in his core. "You will **never** get near her. You hear me!?" His fist crushed the phone in his anger.

That anger quickly washed away as he felt the small shivering hands on his own. Looking back to Eri, her tears shed anew. He heart clenched and he picked her up and comforted her. "It's going to be fine, Eri-chan…" he whispered to ease her whimpering, before looking back to Mirio and Nighteye. "We need to get to UA. No offense, Sir, but your office might not be structurally sound enough to withstand a potential raid."

"Your assumption, while crass, holds merit, Midoriya." Nighteye nodded. "My employees specialize in Intel, though several can and will hold their ground."

Mirio nodded, standing tall. "And Recovery Girl can check Eri over, just in case."

Izuku sighed as he began to feel lightheaded. "Good… that's… gu-" he began to collapse on the ground, the world going black around him.

* * *

Chisaki held the phone in his hand, listening to the dull ring that signaled a lost connection with a lazy gaze. If he had to hazard a guess, judging by the boy's tone of voice and the last thing getting through the call being the sound of plastic cracking under pressure, he'd have to say the boy crushed the phone in his grip in response to his words.

So, he found a weakspot, good.

With a lazy twitch of a finger he hang up from the call, before tapping a new number in, drumming the fingers of his other hand on the table as he waited for the call to connect.

It took two rings before Chronostasis picked up, "Yes Boss."

"Any movement to report?"

A quick pause followed, "More police cars showed up. About twenty. Two armored."

Overhaul continues drumming his fingers on the table, humming absently, "Hero support?"

Another pause, "On the way, about five minutes. Reports say either the Fatgum or Ryukyu offices."

"Your take?"

"Both."

"Anyone leave the building?"

"Not y- Wait." Overhaul's fingers stop, "I see a few people heading towards the armored car…I can't see them very well, hold on…" A charged silence followed on the line, "…Eri is with them, and they're moving her." A shuffling sound could be heard through the line, "I can send a few grunts to slow them down, went to send some Expendables over?"

"No."

"Sir? They're probably taking her to UA! If they get her there we won't-"

"Anyone we send in won't be able to accomplish anything before the other heroes show up," Was the measured, calm response, "And losing too many men would put us at a disadvantage during the meeting with Shigaraki." He leans back on his chair, "Let her go, we'll get her out of there, along with the green haired brat, don't you worry."

"…You have a plan boss?"

Overhaul threw a glance at a file on his desk, no name on it or any other features to see, "What kind of question is that?" He cracked his neck at the sound of someone entering his room, "Just get back here, I'll give you the details."

With that he hung up, slowly putting down the phone and looking up to meet his guest, the broad muscular form of one of his Eight Expendables, Rappa.

"So, wanted to see me, _boss?"_ The large man crossed his arms and looked down the large nose of his mask at Overhaul, not an ounce of respect to be found on either his posture or voice, "I've been wanting to have another go at you."

Chisaki could hear the manic grind of the man's teeth moving against eachother to form a grin behind his mask, he absently rubbed the scar on his forehead in response, "Not today Rappa, I have a mission for you."

"I wasn't _asking!"_

A few things happened. First, Rappa threw a punch directly at Overhaul's head. Second, Rappa _lost_ his head. And thirdly, he got that head back. The sudden rush made him stumble back, clutching his skull in pain.

He was vaguely aware that he was missing a tooth, "Mother _fucker_."

"As I was saying," The yakuza boss went on with only the slightest edge of annoyence coloring his tone as he casually flicked aside what looked to be a molar, "I have a mission for you Rappa," He reached for the folder and streched out his arm to give it to the larger man, who was still clutching his head in pain as he took it, "You might have heard that Eri was stolen from us."

Rappa laughed as he opened the folder without looking at it, "Yeah, made my day, heard some brat caught ya' with your pants down!" Rappa looked down at the folder, his laughing stopped dead, "…the fuck is this?"

"My daughter was taken from me," Overhaul started, calm as a corpse, "My _family,_ you could say," He leaned back on his chair again, threading his fingers together, "And since my family was so cruelly taken away from me, held captive where I can't reach…" Something rotten crept into his voice, **_"It's only fair that I repay in kind."_**

Rappa looked over the folder, inside was a single file, a few details about a person, along with a picture.

The picture was of a middle aged women with green hair, pulled into a tight single bun. The file gave the picture a name:

 _Midoriya Inko._

* * *

 **Ai yi yi yi, why do I do this to myself? bah, who am i kidding? you eat this stuff up! Be sure to review!**


	2. Immediate Consequences

**Helloooooo~ anybody out there?**

 **Oh Hi, minions! Johnny here with a new chapter work with Rex101111! things get a bit tense, but who knows how that'll go? Give a read and be sure to review!**

* * *

The first thing Izuku notices when he first starts to blink to wakefulness is that the ceiling is spinning, the fluorescent lights drilling into his barely open eyes, causing him to squeeze them shut as a headache pulses behind them.

"W-Where am-"

"In the U.A. infirmary." Came the tired old voice of Recovery Girl, making the young man turn his head in her direction just a bit too quickly, pain traveling through it again, "Careful now, I suggest you don't move your head too much," She got off her chair to stand by his bed side, putting a hand to his forehead to get him to lay on his back, a part of him belatedly realized he was still in his costume, "Just stay in bed for a bit, after using One For All to speed up your brain's function the last thing you need to do is jostle it around."

"R-right sorry about-wait how did you-?"

"You are _far_ from the first idiot with One For All that I had to take care of." The boy opened his mouth to voice some sort of complaint, before he sheepishly closed his mouth in surrender when the aged nurse hero gave him a _look_ , "Also, Nighteye-san gave me an overall update on what happened… well, most of what happened." She raised her brow at him, "You really _never_ think before you do something stupid do you?"

He lifted his head slowly to answer that, before he realized something, now fully awake and his eyes widening. His stomach sank as he looked around the room in a mild panic, ignoring the mild ache in his skull as he did, the room starting to spin as he failed to spot her, before looking back at Recovery Girl, "Eri-chan! We rescued a little girl, where is -!"

"Calm down!" She hissed, making calming motion with one hand while the other put a finger to his mouth to hush him, "You'll wake the poor dear up!" She walked to the other side of his bed, pulling away a curtain that obscured the bed right next to him, which contained the sleeping form of Eri, completely dead to the world as soft snores escaped her tiny frame hidden beneath her two extra blankets.

Izuku let out a massive breath of relief, laying back down while keeping his eyes firmly on the little girl, "Is she okay?"

Chiyo looked between them for a moment before sighing, "She was supposed to head off to a more secure medical facility so they could check her condition before bringing her back here," She rubbed her forehead with a tired smile, "But she refused to part with you, and whenever anyone tried she kicked and screamed and just held on tighter," She narrowed her eyes at him, "You gave her a real scare with that stunt you pulled, or so I've heard."

Izuku bit his tongue, his gaze still focused on the sleeping form of Eri, eyes shifting in regret, "Eri-chan…"

"…as soon as she got in the armored car along with you, poor girl just… collapsed on top of you." The pro heroine walked over to her bedside, gently threading her gloved hands through the girl's unkempt hair, "She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, must have been already running on fumes when you found her."

Izuku continued to look in her direction for a moment, before casting his gaze to Chiyo, "How long have we been asleep?"

"A few hours," She said quietly, patting the sleeping girl's head one more time before turning to the boy, "I've done a few tests in the mean time, checking her pulse, her throat and ears, surface level to get an idea of her condition."

Izuku sat up a bit, eyes filling with intrigue, Oh really? How is she then?"

Recovery Girl looked back at Eri for a moment before letting out a breath, "Her pulse is a bit weak, but regular, she has a few sign of very mild malnutrition, and considering how pale she is, I wouldn't be surprised if she's lacking in vitamin D…" She put a hand to her chin, "I would need a blood sample to know for sure, as well as find out if she's in need of any vaccines…" Her face twisted a bit in disgust, "...And only God knows what I'll find when I unwrap those bandages…"

As she continued to mutter to herself Izuku looked back to Eri, his voice shaking a bit with worry, "You mean you… haven't taken a blood sample yet?"

She stopped her muttering to look up at him, before clearing her throat, "I had a feeling she might want to voice her opinion getting a needle in her arm."

The word _again_ was a pendulum in the air, swinging back and forth over their heads.

"…Do you need to?" Izuku whispered, face twisted slightly thinking about how Eri might react to a needle, his head going nowhere pleasant, "I really don't think Eri-chan will -"

"Nighteye told me about your little _talk_ with Overhaul," She said, making Izuku shut his mouth, "As well as how the man apparently _reacted_ to what you said regarding her," She locked gazes with the young man, "The sooner we find out what he's been…" She shivered lightly, " _Doing_ to her, the sooner we might find out _why_ he's been doing it." Her tone turned a bit grave, "And the deeper the hole we can throw him into."

Izuku gulped, before he focused his gaze on the older woman, a sudden protective instinct overriding what ever side of him agreed with her, "I still don't think we need to put her through anymore -"

"DEKU-KUN!"

"MIDORIYA-KUN!"

The two of them were knocked out of their intense discussion when the infirmary was visited by two _very_ worried teenagers. One Tenya Iida, whose glasses were askew and hair was slightly messy, as if he had just gotten back in uniform, and Ochako Uraraka, who was still in her hero costume, her hair disheveled and face dirty, seemingly only just recently returning from her internship.

The both of their faces were filled with worry as they rushed over to his bed side, checking him over as he spluttered in shock of their sudden appearance, the two of them looked at him in a mild panic.

"We heard you returned from your mission unconscious, Deku-kun!"

"We rushed over as soon as we could! I even ran in the halls to get here!"

"Is it true that you faced a villain, Deku!? I heard something about a hero office getting surrounded by Yakuza!"

"The entire class is worried about you, Midoriya-kun! Is everything alright!?"

 _"Would you two calm down!"_ Recovery girl shouted at them, shaking her cane at them, causing them both to cover their mouths in shock, "There's more then one patient here you know! And she's slee-!"

"Umm…" Came the week, still half asleep, whisper of a little girl from the next bed over, who was looking at the four of them with half lidded eyes, not quite knowing where she was as she slowly shook off her drowsy stupor, "Where am…I…?"

Izuku pushed his way gently passed his two friends, who were struck dumb by the sudden appearance of a child, to stand by Eri's bedside, "Eri-chan, hey, did you sleep okay?"

She looked his way, still rubbing one of her eyes, nodding as she yawned, "Y-yeah, mister… I think I…" She looked around, taking in her surroundings for the first time, the sheer white walls and sterile smell causing a pit to form in her gut almost on instinct, she clutched at her blankets as she shrunk away from the blinding lights above her, panic sinking into her head and drowning her, "W-w-where a-am I?"

"Eri-chan?"

"Oh no oh nonono I'm back nono please no I was so _close_ -" She went on as if she didn't hear him, all she could hear was the drilling _hum_ of the fluorescent lights filling her head, she was back in the _examination room_ and any second _he_ was going to come through the door and take back to that _machine_ and then she -

" _Eri-chan_!" Izuku grabbed her by the shoulders shaking her just a bit to make her focus on him, "Eri-chan, look at me," Slowly her gaze righted it self, and she gazed at him, her breath easing out slightly as she felt the gentle grip he had on her, "You're safe, Eri-chan, you're in U.A.!" He smiled softly at her, her nervous shaking petering out ever so slowly, "That's my school, and the safest place you could even be in."

Eri took a deep breath, her vision focused solely on the young hero-in-training in front of her, "S-so… I- he won't f-find me here?"

Izuku hardened his face, "I promise, he will _never_ find you here."

Eri's upper lip shook for a moment before she leaned forward to rest her forehead on his chest, Izuku rubbing her back to comfort her.

"Uh… excuse me, Deku-kun," came Ochako's confused statement, peering over Izuku's shoulder to look at the child, who buried herself deeper in his chest to hid, her horn still visible, "but… who is this?"

Iida looked over Izuku's other shoulder to look at Eri himself, adjusting his glasses to get a good as look as he could manage, "Is she related to you in any way? Or to one of the teachers? Otherwise, I see no reason for a child this young to be here."

Izuku looked back in forth between his friends as he felt Eri crawl deeper into his chest to hide, her horn starting to to poke him as well, before he readjusted his grip on her, "It's okay, Eri-chan, they're my friends," He patted her head while he looked at them, "Iida-kun, Uraraka-san, this is Eri-chan, and I met her on that mission you heard about," He looked back to the girl, rubbing her back in soothing circles, "I… rescued her from a villain."

"Ah I see!" Iida exclaimed, moving his arms about in praise, Ochako grinning along with him, "Most courageous, Midoriya-kun! Was she kidnapped?"

"…I don't know," Izuku admitted quietly, making his two friends friends stop short in confusion, "All I knew was that I had to get her out of there."

Tenya and Ochako looked at each other for a moment before smiling and sighing, not the least bit surprised. Ochako came down to eye level with Eri, calling out as gently as she could, "Hey, Eri-chan?" Slowly, every so slowly, the young girl looked in her direction, and was rewarded with a gentle, warm smile, "My name's Ochako Uraraka, and it is very nice to meet you." Her smile turned apologetic, "I'm sorry that I scared you, I won't do that again, okay?"

Eri looked at her cautiously, Ochako's smile soothing her panic in a way she couldn't quite explain, a light blush came to her cheeks as she nodded, "O-okay."

Ochako's smile grew a little, "Good! And this is Iida-kun," She motioned with her head to the speedster, who was standing with his back and straight and looking like he didn't know exactly where to put himself, Ochako then whispered to Eri, "He's kinda shy, so give him a minute."

Eri nodded uncertainly before looking at Tenya, who stopped fidgeting with his tie to look at Eri apologetically, "I apologize for my behavior as well, Eri-kun, I should have known better then to act the way I did," He bowed sharply at the hip, "I hope we can get along with each other!"

Eri looked at him blankly for a moment, before her shoulders started shaking a bit, and a soft giggle escaped her, "O-okay."

Izuku smiled in relief before he remembered something, "Oh right!" He put a little distance between him and Eri, just enough to be able to look eye to eye, "My name's Izuku Midoriya," He flashed a brilliant smile, "It's nice to meet you, Eri-chan."

Eri was mesmerized, her eyes glinting as she nodded, "N-nice to meet you too, Izuku-s-" she covered her mouth at her slip, looking away "I-I mean… Midoriya-san."

"Izuku is fine, Eri-chan." She looked up to see him give her an honest stare, demanding her attention, "You can call me what ever you want, okay?"

"…okay, Izuku-san."

Someone clearing her throat dissipated the moment, as all four of the children looked back at Recovery girl, who walked over to them with her signature grandmotherly smile, "If we're all introducing ourselves, I'm Recovery Girl, the resident school nurse for U.A.," She looked up at Eri, who peered back at her curiously, "I'm the one responsible for keeping everyone in this school happy and healthy, which as of a few hours ago, includes you, Eri-chan!"

Eri continued to look at her quietly, letting her words sink in slowly, before she nodded.

Chiyo nodded back, "And to do that, I need to run a few tests."

Eri's blood ran cold, her pale face somehow losing color, "T-t- _tests_?"

"Nothing major!" The nurse quickly reassured, with limited success, "Just enough to get a general idea of how healthy you are already so I can work from there," She walked over to a drawer, and pulled out a syringe, Eri's frame freezing at the sight of it, which didn't go unnoticed by Izuku.

"Eri-chan?"

She quickly buried her head again in his chest, muttering helplessly, " _No no no please no._ " Over and over, causing him to tighten his grip on her. his mouth setting in a thin line.

"It also means I need to take a _small_ blood -" She turned around to see Midoriya and Eri nowhere to be found, Uraraka and Iida standing in the same place a bit sheepishly, "…sample."

Ochako twiddled her thumbs for a moment, "Oh dear - I'll go get him back!" After that she quickly left the room, ostensibly to look for Midoriya.

"I shall accompany you, Uraraka-kun!" Iida exclaimed, going for the door before stopping just short of leaving to turn to Recovery Girl, "We will be sure to return him as soon as we are able!"

Chiyo stood there for a few moments before sighing, "Of course you will." She put the needle back in it's drawer, and went to sit on her chair, going through her notes, specifically about Eri. Her worries about the girl were evident in her writing despite the medical terms she used, what ever she went through has put her body under a serious toll.

It was a good thing Midoriya grabbed her when he did, another month or two of… _whatever the hell_ Chisaki was putting the poor girl through and she would have…

"No no, Chiyo," She muttered to herself, writing some more notes about the girl's mental situation as she saw it, writing down "needle phobia and general fear of medical procedure" among other things, while trying not to think to hard on what she might see under those wrappings.

"…At least she's somewhere safe…" she muttered again, "Midoriya will take care of her… Toshinori taught him how to do _that_ properly at least…"

* * *

Sir Nighteye sat in the silence of the school office borrowed, rubbing his temples furiously. That darker future lingered in his mind, much like the proceedings after All Might faced All for One six years ago. The hollow gaze after placing the mask on her face he could almost hear broken laughter… He was brought out of his gaze as the door opened to show a large round man wearing an orange hoodie.

"Thanks fer leading us over, Toogata -oof!" Fat Gum stated cheerily as he squeezed through, hopping on one foot before stopping. "Phew, close one. U.A.'s changed a bit since my day. Ha!" He sauntered over to a seat to the side, followed by Amajiki Tamaki huddled in his cape and a younger man in red - Kirishima Eijirou, if he recalled Mirio's words.

"It hasn't been that long, Toyomitsu-senpai." spoke a cool voice that strode into the room, a woman with a dragon-like dress - Ryuukyuu - strode in behind with Hadou Nejire bouncing behind her alongside an amphibious girl in green, Asui Tsuyu.

"Heh! Tatsuma-chan, with how Ishiyama works and Nedzu-kouchou, we'd be in a maze fer his enjoyment!" Fat Gum laughed.

Eijirou leaned over to Tamaki. "You think the principal would really do that?"

"Kouchou-sama is always looking over us, judging those for everything we do…" Tamaki started huddling in on himself as he began to whimper. Eijirou flinched and started to panic.

"Ryuukyuu," Nighteye brought attention on him and away from his own thoughts. "I was under the impression that you took two interns this time. Where is the other?"

The answer was given by Tsuyu, "Ochako-chan decided to go see Midoriya-chan after she heard he was sent to the infirmary."

"Wha? What'd Midoriya get caught up in now?" Eijirou asked.

"That's precisely why we're here, young Kirishima~" the door opened again revealing Principal Nedzu flanked by Mirio, Aizawa, and Ectoplasm.

"My apologies, Sir, I couldn't find Gran Torino on the grounds." Mirio said, deflated. Nighteye pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew the older man was up to something. He always was.

"Regardless, let's begin."

Nighteye reached over with one hand to grab a few folders, and while he opened it he motioned to Mirio to sit down while he faced the rest of the room, "Fat Gum-san, Ryuukyuu-san, as you know earlier today I requested assistance from your offices to help bolster the defenses near my main building."

Fat Gum nodded, "Yeah, took me by surprise you did, I was gonna bounce on over myself when you called me again to come here an hour ago," He reached into one of his pockets for a piece of candy, quickly chewing it and sitting down before continuing, "I'm happy to help my fellow heroes, but sidekicks don't come cheap, y'know."

"Same for me," Ryuukyuu added, crossing her arms as she found a seat of her own, Asui and Nejire joining her shortly after, "I had to expedite a mission to send over some of my own to help you," She looked at him with a raised brow, tone slightly suspicious, "Which apparently was a sign for paparazzi to start hounding at my front door," She looked at Fat Gum, "Toyomitsu-senpai, have you seen the news yet?"

Fat Gum looked in her direction is mild surprise, "Huh? Uh, nope actually, couldn't find the time."

Ryuukyuu nodded, "Ah well, then no wonder you're a bit behind," she looked back at Nighteye, looking both tired and worried, "Apparently, Sir Nighteye has somehow found himself on the wrong end of a Yakuza group's short temper."

"He _wha'?!"_

Nighteye pinched the bridge of this nose again, "Yes, yes, Ryuukyuu-san, I was _getting_ to that," He took a deep breath before putting one of his folders in front of him, opening it to a picture of a man in a plague doctor mask, "This is Chisaki Kai - alias 'Overhaul', reputed leader of a Yakuza group known as 'The Eight Precepts of Death' - currently under investigation by my office for various charges, including drug trafficking, and conspiracy to commit assault."

Fat Gum's eyes widened, "Oh yeah, that's the one you were tellin' me about a day ago! Asking for help to catch him and some such."

"Me as well, Toyomistsu-senpai."

"No foolin'? Huh, you must be serious about catching him, hu-" He paused as the implications sank in, "Wait, were the thugs around yer place working for this punk?"

Nighteye nodded, "That's right, Fat Gum-san."

The rotund hero looked at the picture with apprehension, Amajiki and Kirishima looking at him nervously as he drummed his fingers on the table before reaching in his pocket for another candy to chew on, "What did ya' do to piss him off?"

Nighteye was quiet for a time, before he took a breath and reached for the second folder, "Earlier in the day, I went around the city to gather information on Chisaki along with one of my sidekicks, Bubble girl, along with my interns Midoriya and Toogata."

He opened the folder, flipping a couple pages before he found what he wanted, "Bubble girl and I scouted out a reported base of operation on one side of the city, Toogata and Midoriya patrolled the other," He took out a single file out of the folder, and handed it to Mirio, who was sitting next to, so he could hand it out to the rest of the table, "And while they were doing so… they encountered… Eri."

The file that was passed around the table was a photo of Eri, her face away from the shot as she looked worriedly at something else out of frame, the pro hero Fat Gum took a quick glance at the photo before giving it to his interns, "Huh, she looks so young," Kirishima muttered, passing the picture to Tsuyu who looked at it for a moment before mumbling 'cute' under her breath, "Can't be more then like what… six? Maybe seven?"

"Ohh!" Nejire exclaimed when she spotted the photo in Asui's hands and snatched it, "She's so _cute!_ And she has a little _horn_ and silver hair! She's like a _unicorn!_ Is she one!? But what about those bandages? Did she come from a hospital when did she-"

"Aright, Nejire-chan that's enough," Ryuukyuu placated her excitable intern with a pat on the head before taking the picture to look for herself, "Hum, so this is it, Sir Nighteye?" she stretched her arm to hand it over to Nedzu at the far end of the table, giving Nighteye a piercing cold look, "Is this the child you reportedly kidnapped?"

"You _WHAT!?"_ Fat Gum bolted up from his seat, slamming his hands on the table as he glared at the thin limbed hero, "That better be a damned _joke_ , Nighteye! Or I'm putting you through a wall!"

Kirishima bolted up as well, his arm curling into a fist before hardening to a slab of stone, "Yeah! That crap's ain't manly at all!"

Amajiki stood up and placed himself in front of the two overzealous heroes, trying to nervously calm them down, "E-easy you t-two! There has to be some explanation! O-o-or-!"

Mirio stood up next, his eyes blazing, "Nighteye-san would _never_ do something that awful! You're not even listening to his side of -!"

"That's enough, Toogata," Nighteye quieted, placing a calm palm on Mirio's shoulder to get him to sit back down, "I'm sure Ryuukyuu-san is only repeating and acting on what she knows, I doubt she thinks that little of me," He looked up at the heroine, matching her ice cold stab with an iron wall, "Isn't that right, Ryuukyuu-san?"

The dragonic heroine flexed her fingers, her nails growing by a single inch each, "If I didn't have the utmost faith in my comrades I would have quit ages ago, but when dealing with a child this young, nothing can be treated as obvious," One of her pupils sharpened and narrowed, her voice a floating glacier, "So if you indeed have an explanation for this I would like to hear it."

The two of them kept their gazes locked for a moment before Nighteye continued, "When the two of them found Eri, she was coming out of an alleyway, barefoot, arms and legs wrapped in those bandages you see in the photo, and running so fervently she didn't notice them until she ran into Izuku's legs."

The two pro heroes relaxed their stances slightly, Fat Gum sitting back down with his fists clenched, and Ryuukyuu's eyes losing a bit of that sharp edge, but her fingers still razor pointed and curled on the surface of the table.

"And right at her heels," He continued, "came out Chisaki himself." The two heroes lost a bit more of their hostility, what was lost being replaced with confusion, "Toogata, can give you a more detailed report of this encounter."

Mirio was caught a bit off guard, looking to his mentor who simply nodded, motioning him to do as he said, "W-well, he was calm, _way_ too calm considering how freaked out Eri-chan was," He cleared his throat and straightened his back when he felt the full focus of the room on him, "He claimed to be her father, and asked us to simply give Eri-chan back to him," The third year student started scratching his head, "…but Midoriya wasn't convinced."

His teacher and fellow students didn't seem all that surprised, Aizawa looking like he was bracing himself for the headache of the century.

"He kept pressing Overhaul for why she was so scared of him," Mirio went on, rubbing his forehead, "Even though I was trying to get him to let it go, say we could get her back later in the worst case, he wouldn't have any of it," He let out a breath, "Eventually, Chisaki seemed about ready to tell us what was going on with her, telling us to get into the alley with him," Mirio paused for a moment, "…which in hindsight might not have been the best idea," He shook his head, "But anyway, instead of doing that… Midoriya -"

"Acted without thinking?" Was the unanimous guess of both Tsuyu and Eijirou, their faces lighting up with a mild smile, the both of them knowing their classmate well enough to see where this was going.

A grumble from Aizawa made them flinch, "You two don't have to say it like its a _good_ thing," The two lowered their heads and mumbled 'yes sensei sorry sensei' while the teacher rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a breath of pure suffering, "I need to beat that bad habit out of him before it gets him killed…"

Mirio looked between the three of them in mild concern before he cleared his throat, "R-right, he made a small distraction with his quirk, and then grabbed Eri-chan, getting out of there as fast as he could," He lowered his head, "I couldn't very well stop him at that point, so I just lead him in the direction of Nighteye's office and well," He looked at Ryukyu, "You probably saw the rest on the news."

"I was skeptic of Midoriya's decision myself," Nighteye spoke up again, making Mrio sigh in relief as the focus shifted away from him, "So I decided to take a look into the girl's future… and what I saw was…" His mouth twitched, some strange pressure building in the back of his nose as he thought back to his vision, "Very convincing of the fact that Midoriya grabbing that girl was the right, if rash, move."

Ryuukyuu was not so easily convinced, "And did you see that convinced you that doing something like _snatching a child_ in broad daylight was the right move?"

"Red Riot," Fat Gum looked down at his youngest intern, "You know this Midoriya kid right? Is he the kinda guy to do something this boneheaded without good reason?"

"No way!" was Kirishima's instinctual response, "If Midoriya did that, he must've thought it was the right move! He's too manly to just grab a child for no reason!"

"Indeed," Nighteye's voice rose over the red haired boy's argument, "While the act itself was rash… not doing so would have probably been worse," He let out a breath, slowly as to steady his heart rate, "I saw a fissure in the girl's future, a split down the middle causing two ways in how it could go," He pushed his glasses up, "In one, she is content, surrounded by the shadows of people who care for her and that she cares for."

Ryuukyuu relaxed her fingers slightly, "And in the other?"

"Atop a pile of corpses, stacked as high as a house," He muttered gravely, making everyone in the room freeze in place, "In one hand a dagger, and in the other Chisaki's bloodied mask," He took in a shaky breath, "As you can imagine, seeing that convinced me that what Midoriya did was worth standing behind," He looked at Ryukyu, eyes tired and honest, "Does that convince you of my intentions towards the child, Ryuukyuu-san?"

Ryuukyuu looked at the student and pro hero for a moment before letting out a breath, her nails going back to normal before she rested her chin on her palm, "To be honest, that statement you gave to the press felt a bit off to me, sounded to me like you were holding something back," She scratched her chin a bit, "Though I suppose I shouldn't have reacted that strongly…"

"You and me both, Tatsuma-chan!" Fat Gum laughed a bit, trying to dissipate the tense air, "We should have been a bit more calm, but with a child this young you shouldn't be too hard on yourself!" He laughed a little and smiled until his former junior returned it, and then looked back to Nighteye, "Though I'm guessing this isn't where this mess ends does it?"

He nodded, "Correct, Fat Gum-san, shortly after I returned to my office to discuss how to move forward from there, my office received a call," He paused to adjust his glasses, turning his head slightly to address the whole table, "From Chisaki, asking to talk to Midoriya."

Kirishima and Tsuyu snapped to attention, their faces filling with worry, meanwhile Aizawa's stare turn hard as stone, and Nedzu threaded his fingers together a bit more tightly, before speaking up for the first time, voice passively cheerful, "And what did he have to say to one of my students, Nighteye-kun?"

Nighteye adjusted his glasses one more time, "I am unsure, due to the abruptness of the call, and how short it ended up being, I do not have any recording of what Chisaki said, but I do know of Midoriya's side of the conversation at least," He cleared his throat, "He spent the whole conversation casting doubt on Chisaki's motive to take Eri back, poking holes in whatever argument the man had until he arrived at a conclusion that apparently cut close enough to home that Overhaul said something… drastic."

Fat Gum shared a confused look with Ryukyu before going back to Nighteye, "Drastic _how_ exactly?"

"Drastic enough that Midoriya's response was to _crush the phone in his grip_ ," Nighteye stopped to let that piece of info sink in properly, "So if I had to make a guess, I'd say Chisaki threatened him in some way, though again with no recording I can not know for sure."

"Not to mention," Tsuyu spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "Without that recording, there's no proof that Chisaki threatened Midoriya-chan at all, and it would be the word of the worried father of a child against that of a kidnapper." She noticed everyone looking at her oddly, "…would be my guess, kero."

Nighteye was quiet for a moment, "…Right, you are correct, Asui-san, and that puts us in a bad position, legally speaking," He cleared his throat, "Fortunately though, Midoriya's conversation with Chisaki _did_ result in something that could help us," He reached for Chisaki's folder before taking out some files, and reaching over to give them to Fat Gum and Ryuukyuu, "Before Chisaki made Midoriya crush the phone, the boy came to the conclusion that whatever Chisaki is up to, it has something to do with Eri's quirk, which gives us a lead to go looking for information."

"Which is why Tatsuma-chan an' I are here." Fat Gum said, taking the file with a smirk, happy they finally got to the point.

"Indeed," Nighteye nodded, "We need to gather as much information as we can on him, so I requested the assistance of your offices to expand the range of our search, in hopes that we can prove that he was no suitable guardian to the girl in any rate, thus clearing Midoriya and my office of any legal tangle."

"One more thing that's still bothering me," Ryuukyuu spoke up as she looked at her own file, a list of addresses of several local businesses reputed to have ties with Chisaki, "... _is_ he her father? All we have is his word on the matter, if we can prove she isn't then maybe -?"

"We do not know," Nighteye shook his head, "I had Bubble Girl do some research into the matter, but there is no information regarding the girl at all," He took out another folder from under the table and flipped through it, "No birth certificates of any kind, no missing persons report matching her description in any way from the last four years… nothing."

Fat Gum scratched his head, "So… we can't prove he is her father-"

"- but we also can't prove he _isn't_." Ryukyu rubbed her forehead, the situation starting to weigh her down slightly, "This is a headache…"

"That's putting it mildly," Nighteye deadpanned, closing the folder and setting it down next to him, "Currently the only reliable source of information about that is the girl herself," He sighed, "And I figure the only one who can get it out of her in any reasonable amount of time is Midoriya…"

"That reminds me!" Nedzu exclaimed of a sudden, getting up on the table with a flourish, "I myself have seen your statement earlier today, and one part of it has been bothering my ever since," He started walking on the table from his end all the way to the other where Nighteye sat, the pro hero keeping his gaze firmly on the speaking animal, "In that statement, you said that the girl was under the custody of your office and _U.A. Academy_ ," He stopped just short of being under the lanky man's nose, his face still stuck in his signature smile but his voice just on the edge of something dangerous, "Regarding the second part of that statement, Nighteye- _kun_ ," His voice tipped over just a bit, just enough to touch the far end of annoyed, and yet it seemed enough to make everyone sitting at the table just a bit nervous, " _What exactly did you mean by that_?"

Nighteye tapped the tips of his fingers together, his voice shaking just a bit, "Ah yes," He cleared his throat," I was… about to get to that actually…"

"From how you said it, it would appear that you are shifting the blame of the incident onto us." Nedzu continued. "I understand your office may not house individuals in the long-term, but really…"

The green-haired man with blond highlights stared hard at the principal. "Midoriya was the one who brought this on himself with his decision. He made his bed - for lack of a better term - and now must sleep on it."

"His bed, or a mass grave?" Aizawa asked, bringing the attention onto himself. He sighed before elaborating. "If we go by Midoriya's apparent deliberation, then he now has a key component for whatever Chisaki's plan is. This will make them act out in desperation, and considering the rise in villain activity…"

"We could be looking at a prefecture-wide gang war." Ryuukyuu muttered aloud, biting her thumb as her thoughts swirled.

Tsuyu swallowed, her stomach hopping around in her chest as she stared out, imagining her siblings in this situation.

Eijirou felt his knuckles go white as he clenched his fists beneath the table, his mind recalling the League raid and the following chaos. From what he read, this Overhaul guy was a lot more of a threat than Shigaraki, but a war? Over a little girl?

"That's right~" Nedzu exclaimed in a flourish. "Despite our own standing, we cannot allow this child to remain here."

"Now hold on 'dere, Nedzu-kouchou!" Fat Gum stood up, slamming his hand on the table. "Don't start spoutin' about the rules when they're 'bout to be thrown out! As a cop, I learned that the lines of right, wrong, an' duty aren't as straight as the painted streets, but there's no way we're gonna let this boil over for the sake of publicity and standin'!"

"Yeah!" Eijirou stood up as well, his enthusiastic grin matching his new mentor. "Doing what's right is manly! We're not gonna stand by when we can do our job!"

 _"Yahoo~"_ Nejire bounced in her seat. "You guy really know how to get the blood pumping! That's perfect for Tamaki-kun~!"

"Hadou-san…" Tamaki whimpered.

Nighteye cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention back on him. "Nedzu-kouchou," he stated to the mouse/dog/bear/Pokémon, his hands tensing. "Midoriya made a choice few others would, and I made a judgment call. The girl is in a fragile state of mind, and…" his eyes flashed back to that night at the hospital all those years ago. "That vision reminds me to make the changes for the better future. So please." He bowed his head. "Let her stay."

Nedzu looked at the man before chuckling. "Humanity has always made decisions for others, be they selfish or something else." He sat on the edge of the table and sipped his tea from a strangely convenient cup. "Very well, she may stay," a collective breath was released. "but Midoriya-kun is responsible for her. After all, he's been a fair student, so let's see how he is as a _master_."

The door opened as he finished to see Tenya entering the room with a small old man in yellow on his back.

"I already told you I didn't need help, boy!" The man growled out as he jumped off.

"My apologies, honored elder, but with security as it is, it is imperative to not wander." Tenya stated, arms motioning at angles.

"Hm? Oh, Ingenium's brother." Ryuukyuu realized, looking the student over.

"Iida-kun, why are you about? Have you seen Ochako-chan?" Tsuyu asked.

Tenya turned to her and nodded. "Yes, I have! We met with Midoriya-kun and the young girl he rescued, but when Recovery Girl mentioned a blood test, the girl ran off with him in tow. Uraraka-san followed after them as did I, before running into Gran Torino and bringing him here."

The room went silent at his explanation. The students tensed at the realization that Eri was running out of fear. The adults worried something very wrong was about to happen.

Miro looked to Nighteye - who nodded in return - before slipping through the floor to go after them.

Gran Torino sighed and jumped into a seat next to Aizawa. "So… anyone gonna tell me what I missed?"

* * *

Ochako was striding through the halls of the 1-A dorm building, her pace hurried but lacking in urgency. She knew, more or less, where she needed to go, and where she needed to lock to find what, or rather who, she was looking for.

She just didn't know what she was going to do when she got there.

She stopped on the threshold of the common room, looking around the area for the two she went to find. After a moment or two she spotted the back of a dark green mess of hair sticking up from one of the couches near the TV, letting our a breath before calling out, "Deku-kun!"

The head of hair jumped up slightly before it's owner turned to face Ochako, an index finger pressed to his lips, " _Uraraka-san keep it down_ ," He hushed, using his other hand to a spot next to him on the couch, " _Eri-chan is sleeping!_ "

Ochako clapped a hand over her mouth as fast as she could, only to after think a bit about what Izuku just said, " _Wait, again?_ " She asked under her breath, walking softly over to the front of the couch to get a better look, finding Eri to be pressed against the boy's side, held close by his left hand on her shoulder. Her eyes closed shut but her fingers faintly clutching the front of his uniform shirt, " _Didn't she just wake up less than 30 minutes ago?_ "

Izuku rubbed his cheek tiredly with his one free hand, which Ochako just noticed was missing a glove, before whispering his answer, " _I know but she kinda…_ " He pointed to the table in front of the couch, which had many crumpled and wet tissues littering it's surface, along with Deku's discarded gloves, " _…cried herself out…_ "

The gravity girl's face twisted in sympathy, " _Oh no…_ " she seated herself on Eri's other side, gently pulling away some of the hair that got stuck to her face from tears, revealing how red, wet and blotchy her cheeks were, causing her to reach for another tissue to softly clean them up, " _Was she that freaked out by the needle?_ "

Izuku rubbed his forehead while he nodded, " _Yeah, the whole way here she was begging me not to let 'them' take her back and put that needle in,_ " He looked down, he rubbed calming circles with his thumb on her shoulder when she dug herself a bit further into his arm, something in her sleep making her whimper, " _All I could do is sit here with her until she got too tired and just… crashed,_ " He sighed before looking Ochako in the eye, " _We've been here for about 10 minutes,and she's been like this for at least five… Uraraka-san, I don't know what to do…_ "

" _You're doing the best you can,_ " She reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, " _But her freaking out much over a little blood test is a bit unusual…_ " She looks up at Izuku, her eyes curious, " _Deku-kun, what happened to her_?" She squeezed his shoulder a little, her eyes going down a bit to the girl between them before raising back to his, " _Who did you save her from?_ "

Izuku starred at her for a moment as the question sank in, before he gulped and a nervous laugh escaped him, " _Promise not to freak out?_ "

Raising an eyebrow, Ochako nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku slowly said, " _I… kinda snatched her away from a… Yakuza… boss._ "

Ochako's eye nearly bulged out of her skull, her hand flying off his shoulder like she'd been singed, "A _YAKUZA BOSS?!_ "

" _Uraraka-san, you promised!_ "

She clapped a hand on her mouth again, her eyes still wide with shock as she looked at Eri to see if she woke her before snapping her attention back to her classmate, hissing her astonishment, " _I'm sorry, but - a YAKUZA!? Are you SERIOUS?_ "

" _Uraraka-san please calm down I know how crazy it -_ "

" _Are you_ sure _? Because I'm not sure you do!_ " She grabbed at the air uselessly, lost at the fact that her friend did something this reckless, " _What were you thinking?_ "

" _I wasn't!_ " He admitted, Ochako's panicking, which his confession only worsened, making _him_ panic along with her slightly, "But what was I supposed to do? Leave her there?"

" _Of_ course _not, but-_ " She ran both hands through her hair and let out a breath to try and calm down, rubbing the top of her head as her face twisted in worry, " _But Deku-kun, you need to stop -_ "

" _Acting without thinking, I know!_ " He sighed as the panic drained out of him to be replaced with anxiety as he looked down at Eri, still clutching his shirt in her sleep, " _I know… but I couldn't just… she was so_ scared _Uraraka-san,_ " He moved a hand through Eri's silver mane, " _I couldn't leave her there, I_ had _to save her, I just_ had _to…_ "

Ochako watched him fret and worry over the small child, her heart warming at the sight of him caring so much for someone he's only known for less then a day… but at the same time she wasn't really surprised, " _Yeah… I think I get that, sounds just like you, Deku-kun._ "

" _Is that an insult or a compliment?_ "

" _A little of both, actually._ " she smiled when that made him chuckle a little, the first time she's seen him smile since she got to the common room. Now that she was calm again, she remembered the question that started all this, " _…So, you think the yakuza did something to make her this scared?_ "

Izuku nodded heavily, " _That's what makes the most sense, with what we know any way._ "

" _But why?_ " She wondered, her tone utterly confused, " _What reason would they have to do something to her that makes her terrified of a small blood test?_ "

Izuku hardened his gaze as he thought back to his conversation, for a lack of a better word, with Overhaul, his teeth grinding against each other slightly, " _Probably wanted to do something with her quirk, no idea what though…_ "

" _Her quirk?_ " Ochako asked, intrigued by his sudden conclusion, " _What makes you think that?_ "

Izuku opened his mouth to answer, before considering that mentioning his little phone call with the yakuza boss with his friend may not be the best idea, especially after he already gave her quite the scare already, so he just chuckled a little before rubbing the back of his head and saying, " _Um… call it a gut feeling?_ "

She looked at him oddly for a moment, before shrugging mildly, " _Alright… if you say so… now what, though?_ "

Izuku was silent for a long second before he sighed, " _No idea,_ " Another whimper caught his attention, and he rubbed Eri's shoulder again until she settled, " _For now, I think I'll just wait until Eri-chan wakes up, and then maybe I'll -_ "

"Midoriya!"

The two of them nearly jumped out of their skin by the sudden voice, looking to the side to see none other then Mirio Toogata, his face set in a frown and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Izuku, was quickly motioned for his senior to be quiet, "Toogata-senpai, please don't -"

"Do you have any idea how much you made everyone worry?" he went on, his stress and anger making him take no heed of neither Izuku nor Eri by his side, "I mean, running off like that from the infirmary without telling anyone where you're going?"

"Toogata-senpai, I just-"

"We have _two_ pro heroes in this school discussing the next move we need to take with Principal Nedzu, and then all of a sudden two of the main players in all this just _leave to go somewhere without say so_? I know you're reckless Midoriya but I thought you were a little more responsible! Don't you know how big all this is!? How much pressure everyone is under!?"

Eri was beginning to stir with a scowl by Midoriya's side, making the teenager screw up his face and open his mouth to tell him to calm down. But before he could, Uraraka stood up from her seat next to Eri and faced her senior with a sharp glare.

"Uraraka-san, please, this doesn't concern -"

"One of the pro heroes that are currently talking with principal Nedzu is Ryuukyuu-san, who is the one I am interning under," She started taking a step towards him and poking a finger in his chest, "So this _does_ concern me, secondly," She pointed toward the sleeping girl on the couch, while her eyes kept contact with Mirio's, "Eri-chan is _sleeping,_ and is under more stress then everyone in this school put together while being less than _half my age_ so **_please stop shouting_** ," That last part was particularly pointed, something in her causing Uraraka to stress that issue more then she intended, even making Mirio take a step backwards "And _lastly,_ Deku-kun has been scolded plenty already, and is under enough stress himself, so don't make feel worse then he already does."

The two kept their eyes locked, Mirio more then a little taken aback by how thoroughly he was scolded, and by his junior no less, so much so that he couldn't help but chuckle, "A senior getting a talking to from a freshman… I should be ashamed."

His chuckle made Ochako snap out of her glare, her face flushing slightly as she took a step back and bowed, "T-Toogata-senpai! I'm sorry! I just -"

"It's okay! Uraraka-san, it's okay!" He laughed, motioning with his hand for her to settle down, "You were right, I shouldn't have gone off the handle like that," He rubbed his forehead, paying close attention to the space between his eyes, "It's just the meeting up stairs kinda… rattled me a bit, so I was a bit on edge."

Izuku gulped, his mind swirling with what Overhaul could be up too, "Are things that bad?"

"Worse," Mirio muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a breath, "Still I'm sorry for snapping like that," He then chuckled again, looking between Ochako and Izuku, "Still, Midoriya, you should have told me!"

Izuku raised an eyebrow, not catching what Mirio was saying, "W-warned you about what?"

He chuckled again, "That your girlfriend was this protective of you!"

Toogata's words echoed in their heads, as loud as a bomb, blood rushing to their faces as panic raced through their core, and at once, together, before they could stop themselves, a cry of shock escaped them, "GIRLFRIEND!?"

As they flustered about, trying to correct Mirio while he stood by, blinking owlishly at them as they flailed about with their faces bright red, all the noise finally managed to rouse the little girl by Izuku's side, who woke up in the middle of the chaos, which combined with the remaining only confused her more.

While Izuku was busy trying to explain why Uraraka wasn't his girlf- _you know_ \- he felt someone poking his arm, after the fourth poke or so he twisted his neck down to ask what that person wanted, only to stop short when he met the confused innocent eyes of Eri, he cleared his throat and gave her an uneasy smile, "H-hey, E-Eri-chan, d-did we wake you?"

She nodded, rubbing her eyes, "Yeah, it's okay though," She yawned, her mouth opening wide to show all her teeth, "I was kinda having a bad dream anyway." All three teenagers flinched at how casually she said that, as if having a bad dream was to be expected, the girl herself missed it though, as she focused on the two freshman, "Izuku-san, Uraraka-san, why are your faces red?"

The two spluttered, unable to explain themselves properly due to still being flat footed from Mirio's earlier comment.

Eri knitted her brow in worry, "Are you guys sick?"

"They're okay Eri-chan," Came Mirio's voice from the side, the boy bending his legs until he was eye level with her, his smile bright and sparkling, "I just asked them an embarrassing question and they were caught off guard," He chuckled as the two red faced teens glared at him, "They'll live don't worry."

Eri nodded slowly before clearing her throat nervously, "O-okay, Mr.…?"

"Ah right!" He slapped his forehead comically, "I never did introduce myself did I?" He offered a hand, "My name's Mirio Toogata, you can call me Toogata-san."

She looked at his hand for a long second before she reached an uneasy hand of her own to shake his, "H-Hello, Toogata-san."

Mirio nodded, his smile still on his face, "Nice to meet you, Eri-chan." After letting go of her hand, Mirio's smile fell a little, "Y'know Eri-chan, you scared a lot of people when you ran out of Recovery girl's room," Eri's eyes opened wide, remembering the syringe that made her want to ran in the first place, "I was sent to look for you."

Eri looked down at her feet, biting her lower lip, "I'm sorry…" She muttered, grabbing the edge of her dress and bunching it in her hands, "I just… I just didn't…"

Hey hey, Eri-chan," Mirio was quick to put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "No one's angry at you, just worried," She flinched slightly out of his grip, retreating further into the couch as Mirio took his hand back, "You really do need to get back, Recovery girl needs to know if your sick," His smile was sympathetic, "And I know it scares you, but means you need to get us a bloo-"

"No!" She screamed, curling up and turning away from him, hiding her face in her long hair as she began to shake her head, "I can't- don't-nonono…"

"Eri-chan…" He whispered, dropping his hand to the floor, looking to Midoriya for help.

Izuku looked between his helpless senior and the shivering girl a few times, before letting out a breath and reaching out for Eri, rubbing circles on her back, "Hey, hey, Eri-chan," He cooed reassuringly, "It's gonna be okay, I promise," He kept rubbing the circles on the middle of her back, "Just breath okay? I'm here," Her shivering started to lesson, "I'm here…"

After another minute of this she stopped, looking up shyly from behind her hair, her face dry but her eyes seeming to be on the verge of not so. She sniffed miserably, "I-I d-don't w-w-want t-to…"

"I know, Eri-chan," He said calmly, his hand still rubbing her back absently, "I know you don't… I promise," He could feel Mirio throwing him a suspicious look from behind his back, "I promise that so long as your here, no one will make you do _anything_ that hurts you or that you don't want to."

 _"Midoriya-!"_

He snapped his eyes to look at Mirio with a piercing glare, _"Never."_

Lumillion held his gaze evenly with Deku's glare for a good minute, before slapping a hand to his eyes and exhaling a breath through his teeth, "Good to see you taking your job as guardian so seriously…"

Izuku snapped out of his glare when he heard the word, 'Guardian', "W-wait what -"

"Midoriya," Mirio said finally, "Can I talk to you in private?"

Izuku looked at Eri for a second, before looking at Ochako, face still a bit flushed and giving Mirio a side-eye, silently seeking permission, which he got after a moment when she smiled at him and nodded quietly.

"Eri-chan," He asked the girl gently, "Are you hungry?"

Eri sniffed again before rubbing her tummy for a second, nodding once.

"Alright," He gestured with his head to Uraraka, "Then go with Uraraka-san to the kitchen, and she'll make something to eat okay?" He smiled reassuringly when she clutched at his uniform again, "It's alright, Eri-chan, the kitchen is right over there," He pointed to the shared dorm kitchen to the right, "And I'll be right here where you can see me, is that alright?"

She bit her lip for a second, looking to the bright smile of Ochako, after a second she nodded, her cheeks a bit rosy, before she hopped off the couch to join at her side as she walked to the kitchen.

"So, Eri-chan, do you want anything in particular?"

"I… um… I like s-strawberries.

"Really!? Me too!" Ochako kneeled down to whisper in Eri's ear, "Let's see of there are any left in the fridge." Before lightly jogging to the fridge, Eri quickly following her with a run.

Mirio followed their path until they vanished into the kitchen before sitting down next to Izuku on the couch. They sat in a tension filled silence before he spoke up, eyes focused on the inactive TV in front of him, "Midoriya, we don't have time for this."

"I don't care," Izuku said resolutely, looking in the same direction, "I'm not going to force her into it."

Mirio whirled on him, "Are you forgetting your own conclusions?" His face was set in a deep scowl, "If what you said back in the office about Eri and Overhaul is true, then right there," He pointed in the direction of where the girls went off too, " _Right in that kitchen is the most important and vital part of his plans,_ " He leaned in closer, "If his influence goes as far as Sir thinks it does, _what do you think will happen if he doesn't get her back soon?_ "

"I won't force her." was Midoriya's only response.

"Oh come on!" Toogata threw up his arms in exasperation, "Midoriya, I care about her just as much as you do but too much is at stake here!" He took a breath to try and calm down, "Look, it's nothing major! Just a small blood sample -"

"And you _saw_ how scared she was of it!" Midoriya stopped him, his face twisted in worry, "Just _thinking_ about it made her go into a panic attack!"

"Are you serious right now?" Mirio hissed, at his wit's end, "The entire _prefecture_ could be in danger and you're putting a single person over all of that!?"

"If I make her go through that," Midoriya grounded through his teeth, his eyes _blazing,_ "Then I'd be _no better than -_ " his anger stopped him from saying the name, but the message rang loud and clear.

His senior looked at him helplessly a bit longer before throwing his arms up in defeat, "Fine," He sighed, rubbing his eyes, "Fine you've got a point there," He rested his chin on his palm as he looked back in Midoriya's direction, "But if that's your issue, you need to find a way to _make her want to do it_ and _fast_."

His anger draining as the urgency of the situation started to dawn on him, Izuku pulled at his lower lip as he thought, "Well, yeah… but how?" He shrugged his shoulders uselessly, "I don't know how to handle kids! Especially ones in Eri's situation!" He stopped and looked at Mirio, "Do you -"

"I"m only two years older then you are!" He poked Midoriya in the chest before sighing, "Besides even if I _did_ know some advice for you, I wouldn't be able to help you."

"Huh?" Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "Why not?"

"Remember what Sir said back in the office about Eri-chan being your responsibility?" Izuku nodded. "Well, Principal Nedzu made it official a few minutes ago, you are now Eri's sole guardian until this whole thing blows over."

"So… that means…"

"That you're _kinda_ on your own… sorry." Mirio rubbed the back of his head as he watched Midoriya continue to mutter about what to do when a thought struck him, "Wait, are you sure you don't know how to handle kids?" He pointed with his thumb towards the kitchen, "You seemed to know how to handle Eri's panic attack earlier."

Izuku shook his head, "No, that wasn't me," He dismissed with a wave of his hand, "That's just something my mother used to do when -" He stopped of a sudden, putting a fist to his palm, "That's it!" He quickly went to his pockets to dig out his phone

"That's what?"

"My mother!" Izuku exclaimed as he finally managed to fish out his phone, "She has the most experience with children, and she can actually help me!"

Huh, good idea -" Mirio's smile was cut short when he thought of something, "Wait, is your mom a hero?"

"…not technically no."

"Oh, then she's a sidekick?"

"…no."

"…does she work in an agency?"

"…n-no."

"…so you're going to share a top secret operation with a civilian?"

"…kinda?"

"…does using One For All in your brain fry a hemisphere or something?"

"No no listen!" Izuku motioned for Mirio to pay attention while he started to dial her number, "I won't say anything about the yakuza or anything that might put her in danger, just enough to get her to understand the situation and help me, that's it."

"Oh yeah?" Mirio motioned to the closed TV, "What if she's watched the news?" He rubbed his forehead, "Every channel is _crawling_ with what happened at the office today, what then?"

Izuku stopped short of pressing _dial_ for a moment before he answered, "Then I hope."

"…Hope for what?"

He pressed the dial button and waited as the tone rang, "That she doesn't kill me."

"..Oh okay…" He placed his face in both hands, letting out a defeated sigh, "We're all _boned."_

"Toogata-senpai I'm calling my mother please don't say bo- _hey mom_! Yeah, I'm fine… um… I actually called cause I need your help with something."

 _[Sweetie, you know that you can tell me anything.]_ Inko said calmly.

"I know, Mom. This just… gets pretty deep."

 _[Does it have to do with the news report?]_ Izuku felt his body freeze up. _[I know things have been crazy, but did you get involved with what they're saying? Rescuing a child from the yakuza?]_

Izuku inhaled a breath to brace himself for the fallout. "Yeah, Mom. That was me. I've been assigned as her guardian until this whole thing blows over." He pulled his hand away in case she started screaming. When nothing came, he brought the phone back to his ear. "Mom? Are you still there? Mom!?"

 _[I'm here, Izuku. I'm here.]_ Inko sighed on the end of the line. _[I know you get that impulsive nature from your admiration of All Might, but I sometimes wish you grasped some of your father's paranoia…]_

Izuku laughed to himself, remembering her story of how his dad kept panicking about asking mom to marry him.

 _[So why don't you tell me what's wrong?]_

"Well, she's safe here at the school, but she's desperately afraid of needles and anything to do with medicine. She's especially scared of her blood, or someone taking it… but we need to do something so we can find out what we can do for her…"

After another tense silence, he heard her ask, _[Have you tried sitting with her and having your blood taken alongside her? I remember doing that with you after you started to not like hospitals after you were registered Quirkless…]_

Izuku's eyes went wide at the idea, barely processing the darker memory. "That… could actually work! Well, it might - depending on how she fully reacts to it and then there's the possibility of her Quirk activating, but she might be calmer with someone else with her, statistics show that blood drives use that for the public image and so people are more relax-"

 _[Izuku, you're doing it again.]_

His muttering stopped before smiled. "Sorry. Thanks, Mom. You're a real hero with this."

 _[Oh, stop. You're the hero here, recklessly saving a little girl - oh! What's her name?]_

"Ah! Her name is Eri. She has silver hair, red eyes, and a small horn on the right side of her head." He smiled as he described her.

 _[Oh, she sounds adorable! I hope you can bring her home so I can meet her.]_ he could hear his mom's smile on the other end.

"I'll have to see about that, Mom. Thanks."

 _[You're welcome, honey. Good luck. I love you!]_

"I love you too, Mom. See you soon." With that, Izuku ended the call. With a plan in mind, he went to search for Ochako and Eri.

* * *

Inko replaced the phone on the stand and sighed with a smile. _'Honestly, that boy is an expert at making me worry. But at least he's doing what he wants.'_ Her thoughts halted as she heard a knock at the door. "Hm? Who could that be?"

She walked over to the front door and opened it to reveal a tall hulking man wearing a cloth and leather full head mask that looked like a bird's head.

"Hey lady. You wouldn't by any chance be Midoriya Inko, would'ya?"

* * *

 **GYAAAAAAAAH! PANIC MODE ENGAGE!**

 **What will be the end result of all this? How will things progress? Stick around! And review, why don't ya?**


	3. Tension point-Break

**Ha-HA! A week after Rex gets back from Paris. we churn out this chapter! Whew! head rush.**

 **So, anyway, the manga's looking up with our precious unicorn's situation, unfortunately, that also means Mirio's in danger... and can we all agree that Overhaul's merging looks like a macabre Kingdom Hearts boss?**

 **eh, banter later, read now.**

* * *

Izuku smiled as he looked at his phone. His mother would always be a hero to him in her own right, now he had to be the same for another.

He walked over to the kitchen to find Ochako and Eri sitting on the stools in front of the counter, the little girl's feet dangling below the seat. They were sharing a small platter of chocolate covered strawberry slices Satou had made the day before. Eri's eyes were wide as Ochako was making several of the slices orbit around them like little planes before the brunette teen snapped one from the air into her mouth. Eri giggled, a light sound that Izuku had the strangest feeling it had been a long time she had done so.

Ochako smiled brightly and maneuvered the flying slices to surround Eri, giving a small nod. Eri blinked for a moment before returning the nod, steeling herself. The slices slowed a bit, and when one came close to her, Eri mimicked Ochako's motion, biting into the floating treat.

Instantly, Eri clapped her hands over her mouth and let a muffled whimper escape her, sending both teens into a panic.

Izuku bolted over and looked Eri over. "Eri-chan, are you okay?!"

"What's wrong, Eri-chan?" Ochako asked, just as worried.

"My mouf…" Eri whined, the start of tears in her eyes forming. "It hurts…"

Izuku looked to Ochako, both having a vague idea of what was ailing her. "Eri-chan, let me take a look." He said, reaching for her hands covering her mouth. Eri rapidly shook her head, but a calm hand on her leg stopped her. The little girl looked at their faces and saw concern - nothing like the impassive gaze of Chisaki - and slowly lowered her hands and opened her mouth.

Pieces of the strawberry and chocolate rested on her tongue, but Izuku and Ochako looked at the top of her mouth. A partly melted ring of chocolate surrounded a bicuspid, and Eri's easing breath was making the tooth move.

The teens sighed in relief, Ochako smiling back. "Well, Eri-chan, it looks like you have a loose tooth!"

Eri closed her mouth and swallowed, wincing at the slight pain. "A… loose tooth?"

Izuku nodded. "Everyone loses their teeth in childhood, so new ones grow in place." He placed his hand on her head. "Everything is going to be alright."

"Because you are here?" Eri muttered quietly. Ochako looked to her green haired friend at the girl's words, a smile on both their faces.

"That's right." Izuku choked out, his heart clenching slightly. "I'll always be here for you." A pregnant pause surrounded the three, before Izuku continued. "I'll be there with you when Recovery Girl is doing her tests as well… okay? "

Eri froze for a moment, shivering in her seat. She didn't know what to think, it hadn't been long enough to ease her worry, but she was… calm around him. At ease.

"Okay." she said quietly.

* * *

The air in the meeting room was thick enough to choke on, Gran Torino has been to his fair share of meetings between heroes to coordinate a joint effort or operation, and quite a few nation wide meetings of heroes from all over Japan to discuss matters of national security, but he doesn't think he's ever seen a bunch of heroes this bunched up in stress.

Something aught to be done about that, he reckoned.

He looked left, then right, and considered the head of his cane for a moment, utterly silent. Sir Nighteye, who had just finished giving a shortened explanation of the situation was watching him with a passive face, though the way he clenched and relaxed his hands betrayed his anxiety, "…So, Gran Torino-san?"

The retired Hero leveled a steady eye on his junior, "So? What?"

Nighteye pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled a thin breath through clenched teeth, "What do you think about the situation as it stands?"

"What I think is that it ain't standing at all," Was the gruff reply, "It's a mess."

Nighteye stared at the aging man for a moment, not missing the weak chuckle that come from his right from Ryuukyuu, but he pressed on, "I know that -"

"Well if you knew that, why ask me what I think about it then?"

Another chuckle, this time from the direction Fatgum and his interns, Nighteye was starting to feel a headache pulsing behind his ears, the stress of the day, of the phone call, of the reporters hounding his office starting to pain him, "What I'm _asking_ you, Gran Torino-san, is what you think we should be doing about it?"

"Ah!" He said with a jovial smile, laughing a little, "Well why didn't you say so?" He chuckled a bit, "You should be a bit more clear with me young man, I'm getting a bit on in years," He motioned with his cane to prove a point, "Not that I have much in the way of _bird hunting tips_ mind you."

Nighteye heard another chuckle limp through the room and he felt something snap, and before he could stop himself he slammed both hands on the table, "Don't joke with me!" He shouted, his heart beating and his vision of the girls future pounding in his skull, empty, bleeding eyes burning holes in his mind's eye, "We are facing an organization with potentially _dozens_ of connections in every criminal facet in the prefecture breathing down our necks because we managed to unwittingly get a hold of _the most important element in their plan_ ," A frustrated breath escaped him, "A plan that _we have no idea_ as to what it entails, and _if we don't stop them thousands of people will die_!"

"And how do you think getting stressed out to high hell and screaming your damned head off is going to help the situation?" Was the cold, measured reply from the aging hero, his hands on his cane laying perfectly still, "I understand this is a high stress situation, but letting it build up inside will cost you."

Nighteye felt his breath hitch, his anger flowing out of him as he looked around the table to see everyone looking at him with alarm, the heroes in training more so then the pros, he slowly relaxed his posture putting one hand to his forehead to rub at the creases forming there, "I'm sorry…"

Gran Torino clicked his tongue and waved a hand, "Don't bother with that, getting stressed and shouting at a meeting is to be expected, no one can keep their lid on in a situation like this hanging over their heads for too long," He gave him a hard look, "Just make sure it doesn't happen while on the field, then people _will_ die."

Nighteye took a deep breath and let it out through his nose, adjusting his glasses carefully, "I know."

"And really," Gran Torino picked up the file with Chisaki's picture, "Do you really want to be remembered as being killed by _this guy_?" He pointed his cane at the picture with a incredulous look, "I mean _look_ at him! He looks like he fell asleep drunk on Halloween, woke up with that mask on in the morning and never figured out how to take it off!"

That was the last straw, the sheer audacity of the old man broke the tension expertly, and soon the whole room was laughing, Fatgum pounding a fist on the table as he guffawed without restraint, even Aizawa and Nighteye letting a few chuckles out at the utter ridiculousness.

Gran Torino alone was the only one silent, simply smiling to himself as he calmly put the file back down and waited for the room to calm down, as the laughing quieted down he spoke up again, "Everyone good and calm?"

"Oh man," Fatgum wheezed, grabbing at his gut as he wiped a tear from his eye, "Dang I needed that, thanks a bunch old timer."

"I ain't that old!" He snapped almost on reflex, ignoring the ghost of a whisper in head saying _you actually are_ , waving his cane threateningly, he then looked back to Nighteye, "And another thing, that part where you got all panicked about the girl running off along with the boy?" He motioned with his hand in a relaxed manner, "Well, you shouldn't, the boy may act without thinking but he ain't stupid, he's probably just making sure she stays on school grounds is all."

Nighteye cleared his throat, pressing down his smirk as he nodded, "Yes, my reaction was just a bit… much," He adjusted his glasses one more time, turning to Torino with a serious, though significantly less stressed, expression, "But, I honestly _do_ want your opinion on our plan of action, please."

The aging hero steeled his features as he thought back to all the things the younger pro hero mentioned, prefecture wide reconnaissance, careful combing of suspected shell companies, tightening security around various police stations and hero offices around key locations.

His conclusion was unerring and confident, "Too big."

Nighteye raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You're all thinking too big," He looked intently at the files on the table detailing all these operations, "Casting the net too wide, spreading yourselves too thin, raising the alarm too high," He looked back to Nighteye, "This isn't a bunch of rag tag scoundrels, you're dealing with _yakuza."_

"I know that," Sir said tightly, "I know exactly what I'm up against, I fought with yakuza before alongside All Might-san," A twitch in his chest went unnoticed, sentiment had no place right now, "And together we wiped them up until there were barely any left."

"You may have _fought_ yakuza," The old man said unflinchingly, "But, I _grew up_ alongside yakuza, during a time where you could throw a stone into a crowd and hit three of the bastards before it went half way," He sighed, thinking back to the old days of his youth, using his quirk to mess with a few of them and running when they saw him, "Back when they had positions of power in every store and pachinko parlor, back when they were…" He stopped to consider his next word, "…back when they were _quiet_."

Kirishima tilted his head in confusion, Tsuyu along with him, the older heroes in the room began to understand what the old man was driving at.

"You and that pupil of mine drove those criminals up the wall you did," He chuckled, letting a drop of pride slip out, "And that changed them, they were facing certain destruction and they had to abandon all previous methods in order to try and stay alive," He pointed at Chisaki's picture, "This one… is hidden, quiet and calm, and more then anything else, confident in his plan."

He scratched his chin, "If he's going to retaliate, it won't be big, it will be small, precise, and painful..." His eyes hardened as he remembered some of the favorite ways yakuza back in the day took revenge, fingers cut and faces burned, and houses ruined, "And more then anything else…personal."

Tsuyu listened intently, and as she did a terrible lump grow in her throat, a creeping shadow landed on her mind and refused to leave, the thought utterly convincing but too horrible to contemplate, and yet she found herself turning to her classmate, "Eijirou-chan?"

Kirishima met her eyes, his own reflecting a dark thought as he cleared his throat and tried to sounds calm, "Y-yeah, Tsuyu-chan?"

"M-Midoriya-chan… he keeps talking about... his mom back home," She croaked nervously, "And how she lives on her own now that he's moved out right?"

He nodded, "W-well yeah but-" The redhead's face went pale, "No…" He shook his head, "N-no way! They-they wouldn't do something l-like that!" He stopped and looked at Gran Torino with a not too confident look, "…w-would they?"

Gran Torino was distressingly silent.

"Oh…oh jeez…"

"Ribbit…"

"I have her address from his student file," Aizawa said quickly, speaking to the room but looking at his students directly, "I'll give it to the nearest hero office and police station so they can fortify her house as soon as possible."

The two looked at their teacher and nodded, though their faces showed no sign of relaxing.

They only hoped it's not to late.

After all, it's been less then a day, surely they still have time don't they?

* * *

Inko was used to have to look up when talking to people, being as short as she is, but looking up at the hulking brute in front of her door, she couldn't remember her neck aching as much as it did now.

"Um… yes? Is there something I can help you with, sir?"

The large man shifted his head about, looking for something. "Is there anyone else here?"

Inko felt her spine shiver, the way he asked was eager, if bored. "N-no, there's no one else here…"

The man stood straight up and raised his masked head to the sky, forearms spread out in aggravation, much like Inko had seen in Mitsuki's boy. She braced herself for the outburst.

"Oh _come_ the _fuck_ on, Overho! You give me a damned retrieval job, and there's not even a _guard_!? Goddamn Shit!"

The small woman started to back away into the apartment, only for a leather-bound hand to completely wrap around her arm.

"Nuh-uh, lady. You're coming with me."

Inko panicked, trying to pull away from this _monster_ that just appeared on her door step, a scream lodged in her throat making it hard to breathe as she felt her arm budge not even an inch as it was held in the massive man's iron grip.

"Lady," He growled, standing up to his full height, the sheer difference between the two causing her to be pulled up slightly with the motion, "I've had a _really_ shitty day, and the last thing I need is for you to make this assignment any more of a pain in the ass then it already is."

"What…" She continued to struggle weakly, the menace in his voice making her knees and stomach weak, "What do you want f-from me!?" She pulled one more time, receiving another tug on her arm and a growl from the man, she swore she felt her bones grind against each other where he grabbed her, "I-I don't even know you! P-please just let me go!"

Another growl left him as he rubbed the back of his neck, "This is why I hating dealing with civvies…" He looked at her, "I ain't the one who has a problem with you lady, hell, nobody has a problem with _you_."

Inko stopped struggling to catch her breath, tears pricking at her eyes as panic continued to build in her chest, "Then _why are you doing this to me_?"

Rappa growled again and roared, "For fuck's sake _calm down_!" He took a deep, rugged breath as he looked at her, his grip becoming just slightly less tight, "I'm not here to hurt you, alright? All I'm here to do, is bring you over to my shitty boss, so he can have a friendly goddamned conversation with you," Something in his voice made it sound like he was trying to be civil and reasonable, "In fact, I'm under orders _not_ to hurt you at all, just to get you in that car," He pointed to a pitch black van with no license plate that Inko could see with his free hand, "So just do me a favor and just come quietly would ya?"

Inko considered his words as carefully as she could, forcing down her panic to look at things as objectively as she could, chances are people are seeing this and are calling the police, who will call some heroes to help, and as scary as this hulking man looked like, he seemed honest in his words when he said he he wasn't gong to hurt her.

What she needed to do was stay calm, and do as he said, "O-okay," she hiccuped, if he didn't want to hurt her, no need to give him reason, "I'll-I'll come with you, but could you just… let go of my arm, please?"

He was silent as a grave, watching her down the beak of his mask without a single word. Slowly, painfully slowly, he let her go, "You won't try anything stupid." Not a question, a statement of fact, a command.

"I won't." She said, rubbing the feeling back into her forearm, he straightened up, and turned slightly, waiting for her to start walking, and as she slowly started to walk to the car, the man slowly followed behind her.

A chuckle left him, "Ya know, if I'm being honest, I was expecting a bit more out of you."

She kept walking, but turned her head to look at him, "W-what do you mean by that?"

"Well," He started clenching his fist, "First of all, I was expecting you to be a bit more… feisty, I guess, to have a bit more fire in you." He shrugged, "Eh, but don't mind that, I'm just a bit antsy, haven't had a good scrap in a while you know?"

She, in fact, did not know at all, but if it kept him talking and allowed her to stall for as much time as she could as police rushed towards her, the better, "Y-yes, of course, I suppose that could make someone restless."

He laughed, the sound rumbling the concrete under her feet, "You don't know the half of it!" He kept walking calmly with her, the car becoming closer and closer, the door shone black in the setting evening sun, "But ya know, today is especially shitty for me."

Inko gulped, "H-how so?"

"Well," He started, "First I hear my boss gets hoodwinked by some brat, which made my day," Some of his words made something itch in the back of Inko's head, "Then he calls me over, says he has a job for me, and _now_ ," He gestured vaguely at her without actually looking, "Now I'm stuck with _you_ ," He shook his head, "Ah well, here's hoping your son is as fun as Overhole makes him out to be."

Inko's blood runs cold, the possibility that this was all a plan to hurt _Izuku_ completely escaping her until now, but some irrational part of held out hope that it wasn't true, that she was sleeping and all of this was just some horrible bird faced nightmare -

"Doubt it though, ah well, kid shouldn't have messed with yakuza, he would have lived longer."

Inko's legs moved before she could think.

"Hey - wait - _don't run you fucking bitch_!"

She rushed to her door in a mad blind dash, the thoughts of the few precious seconds it would take for him to open the door to chase her down and the opportunity they would afford her to call Izuku, call the police, call _anyone_ keeping her focused.

Just as she was about to grab the door knob, an iron grip descended upon her once more, the bones in her wrist scream in pain as pressure surrounded them, she whips her head up to see the horrible bird faced visage of his mask peering down on her.

" _I fuckin' warned you_."

She couldn't think, some primitive instinct making her pull helplessly at his grip trying to reach the door, she's almost there, _she just needs to -_

" _I don't think so_." The man flicked his arm, his hand clenched in a fist, and suddenly her house had no front, a large chunk of wood and cement ripped to pieces and laying somewhere to her left.

The sight made her legs buckle under her, she couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

She was trapped.

"That's more fucking like it." Another hand grabbed her roughly by the waist and lifted her as if she weighed nothing, "Now, let's get you to the bo-"

Something hit the man on the side of the head, Inko barely saw a small stone fall at his feet.

" _ **HEY ASSHOLE!**_ "

Both she and the criminal looked towards the voice, and there they saw two people, a brunette man and blond women, both around Inko's age and glaring at the brute holding up Inko.

Horror etched itself deep into Inko's bones, but even then she could only barely whisper, "No…"

Mistuki Bakugou glared at this behemoth nearly twice her height and covered in muscle, she stared with death in her eyes towards this monster that punched like a bullet and hit like a cannon, she gave her best scowl to this asshole trying to kidnap her friend.

" ** _If you don't let her down in the next ten seconds you're a dead man._** "

Rappa looked at her quietly, before his chest started to shake, and soon he exploded into a cheerful, bloody laughter, his fists clenching at his sides.

"Well well, _aren't you **feisty**_?"

* * *

Eri continued fidgeting on the cot in Recovery Girl's office, half the fiber of her being demanding to flee with everything in it as the older woman sat at the desk, scribbling out on paper after paper. The other half was being figuratively held down by Izuku's reassuring hand in hers. He sat down next to her while the bright lady - Ochako, if she recalled - sat in a nearby chair, her brown eyes wide, but comforting.

The old lady sighed, grabbing their attention as she hopped down from her chair, steadying her weight on her large syringe cane, before grabbing a smaller, slightly metallic pen-like syringe.

"Now, my dear. I assure you that this will only sting for an instant, and everything will be fine." Chiyo said.

Eri shivered looking at the needle, but Izuku squeezed her hand in reassurance. She looked at him, remembering that it would be alright, took a deep breath, and braced herself.

A short burst of air following a prick in her calf nearly made her jump and shriek, but she started feeling tired as the seconds passed, before she passed out onto Izuku's side.

"Lay her flat on her back," Chiyo said quietly as she put the needle in the waste and went looking for another one, "Make sure that her arms are at her side with her palms upwards." She opened a drawer, looking inside for a moment before closing it, "And make sure her head is propped up, use the pillow."

Izuku followed her instructions carefully, slowly placing Eri on the coot with her head on the pillow, placing her arms as he was told. He looked at her for a moment, her face calm and relaxed.

"Move," He was nudged out of the way by the nurse, who held a needle in her hand, connected to a tube and with two pieces of plastic attached near the needle, with a plastic cylinder on the other end that brought some memories back to him.

"A butterfly needle?" Izuku laughed a little despite himself, "Haven't seen one of those since I was 8."

Chiyo laughed a little herself, getting up on a short stoop and taking a cotton swab and rubbing some alcohol on the pit of Eri's elbow, "I thought it appropriate, considering my patient this time," She carefully inserted the needle into the girl's vain, holding down on the plastic "wings" of the butterfly as she taped it down, stepping down from the stoop to get a clear syringe, "I always keep a few handy, since quite a few high school kids don't like needles any more then she does."

Izuku watched her walk a short distance before coming back to the young girl with the syringe, removing the plastic cylinder on the end of the tub before placing the syringe inside, and began drawing blood ever so slowly from the girl.

"I work better when people aren't peering over my shoulder."

Izuku flinched and walked to sit next to Ochako, his eyes glued to the prone form of the little girl under his care.

 _(Oh god under his care, he has the life of a a girl probably less then half his age on his head, he'll need to get her clothes and feed her properly and oh god how did his mom raise him without getting a heart attack -)_

" _Deku-kun_ ," Ochako whispered next to him, poking him on the cheek, making him jump, "You're worried for her, aren't you?"

Izuku opened his mouth on instinct to say no but he closed it and sighed, "Y-yeah… I guess it's only now setting in that I'm… _responsible_ for her," He rubbed his head and sighed, "Just... the idea of every thing I need to do is… dawning on me."

The floating hero smiled, "Don't worry, Deku-kun," She clapped her hands together, "You won't be alone on this, I promise." She pumped a fist up and down, "We'll make sure she's happy and healthy together!" She blushed a bit, "I-I mean we - you know me and the rest of the class! All of us together!"

Izuku blushed a little too, but smiled with her, "T-thanks, Uraraka-san." He looked away, the blush still on his face, he looked aside to see Recovery girl replace a glass tube in the syringe as she continued to take a bit more blood out of Eri before looking back at Uraraka to see she too was still blushing, before quickly looking away again.

 _"You should have told me! …That your girlfriend was this protective of you!"_

He gulped, Mirio's words still echoing in his head along with the wink he gave him as he went back to Nighteye as they walked to Recovery girl's office, as embarrassed as it made him he was sure it made Uraraka feel worse, so he owed her at least to talk about it.

He cleared his throat, "Um… Uraraka-sa-"

"Midoriya," Chiyo spoke up of a sudden, turned towards the two with a critical eye, "Did Eri-chan faint again after you ran off and before you got here?"

"Huh?" He shook his head, "I mean, yeah once, why?"

Chiyo nodded her head as she hummed to herself, looking at the last blood sample that she took from Eri, "So it seems I was right."

Ochako raised an eyebrow, "Right about what?"

"I think that our dear girl is anemic."

The teens felt an unnerving chill pass through them at Recovery Girl's words.

"A-anemic? Like she doesn't have enough blood in her body?" Ochako asked.

Chiyo nodded slightly, before her face tightened. "I can't say for sure at the moment, but the amount of cells in her plasma is lower than it should be for a girl her size and age. Not by much, but enough to limit any activity…"

 _'Like escaping torment…'_ Izuku thought grimly.

"Aside from that, her body could be healing itself in a way I've never seen…" the old woman pointed to where she had stuck the needle in, and the little blood that was there was… _receding_ into the wound?

"Wha-?" Izuku blinked. This wasn't Regeneration, or any sort of healing Quirk he knew of, his mind reeling at the possibilities…

"If I could hazard a guess, her Quirk is trying to put things back as they should be, but the constant effects of Chisaki's… experiments…" Chiyo spat out the distasteful word, "have faltered it, or worse… damaged it."

"Maybe… she doesn't know how…"

Izuku and Chiyo looked at Ochako, who was deep in thought. She took notice and continued. "Maybe the yakuza have never taught her how to use her Quirk."

Izuku stared for a moment. "That… makes sense. If she knew how her Quirk works, then she'd probably be in a better state, at least health wise, though anything could be possible, and I really don't know what Chisaki has do- gyak!" He was stopped by Chiyo's cane striking his shin.

"None of that now, child." She stated. "Now with her body as is, because of this… forced anemia, I can give her ion tablets, but she will need a transfusion."

"I'll do it." Both teens said at the same time. They looked at each other before their faces flushed red. Chiyo sighed with a light chuckle at their expense.

Chiyo turned back to face the young girl with a muted smile, "I appreciate your enthusiasm kids, but that's a long ways for now," She removed the tape holding down the needle, then slowly took the needle itself out, putting another ball of cotton in it's place, "For now I need to find out her blood type before that, which will take a while," She looked over her shoulder at Ochako, "Uraraka-chan, you're B type right?"

Ochako nodded, still trying to suppress her blush, "Y-yeah, B+."

Recovery Girl then turned to Izuku, "And you're O."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "Yes ma'am, O-."

She nodded, "I have a few bags of each, but finding out her blood type will take a day, though I'll probably hurry it along since I'll have many more tests to do on the samples," She reached into her pocket with her other hand while still keeping a finger on the cotton ball, face screwed in thought, "I need to confirm the anemia, first off, then do a blood culture to see if there's anything else to be concerned about, not to mention a complete physical to get a full picture of how well she is in general."

Ochako could feel her head spin from all the details, and a slight clenching in her chest at the thought of Eri going through all of it, "Will Eri-chan be okay through all that?"

"She seemed perfectly fine with you two here." The old woman said easily, making the teenagers blush a bit harder, she smiled to herself when she found what she was looking for in the pocket of her medical jacket, a small stack of band-aids.

She sorted through them before picking one, and replaced the cotton ball with it, removing her hands revealed the band-aid had an image of a cartoon unicorn with flowing white hair.

The two teenagers gawked at the bandage for a moment before turning to the nurse, who had a grandmotherly smile, "I've had to take care of younger children many times before in my career," She said, "So I stock up on a few types of these kinds of band-aids just in case."

Ochako was looking at the band-aid with shining eyes, _'It's so cute!'_

Izuku was smiling himself, "I think she'll like it Recovery Girl-san." He looked at her face for a moment, seeing her breathe calmly and steadily, "So… how long until she wakes up?"

Chiyo scratched her chin in thought, "Not much longer now I think, though considering she's pretty young she might wake up in another ten -" A quiet groan stopped her as the young girl in question slowly sat up, "…minutes."

Eri rubbed her eyes, "Is the test -" She yawned tiredly, "Is it done?" A minor pressure on her arm made her look at the pit of her elbow to find the band-aid, the cartoon animal smiling back at her brightly, "Is…is this for me?"

Chiyo smiled, "Of course it is, dear! I thought you might like it," She pointed to her own head, "Considering."

Eri looked between her arm and the old woman, a small blush on her cheeks, "T-thank you."

"You did great, Eri-chan," Izuku said with a smile, putting aside any theory he might have about why the girl shook off her anesthesia so soon (maybe something to do with her quirk?) and walking over to her and bending to to be eye level with her, "You were very brave."

The girl averted her eyes from his, a smile lighting up her face.

"Midoriya," Recovery girl called, her face calm yet serious, "Nighteye-san asked be to directed you to the meeting room so you can be briefed on the situation." She looked at Ochako, "You too, Uraraka."

The two looked at each other before nodding, Deku turning to Eri once more, "Eri-chan, do you want to come with me? Nighteye-san might have some questions for you," He saw her eyes widen a little before he hurriedly added, "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to!"

Eri worried her fingers for a moment before nodding and muttering, "Okay."

"Alright, now let's get you -"

 _ **"DEKU! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"**_

Izuku stopped, whipping his head towards the door, he'd know that voice anywhere, "Kacchan?" He looked at Chiyo and Ochako who were themselves looking at the door from where the yell came from, "Why is he -?"

 _ **"DEKU! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T SHOW YOUR DAMN FACE I'LL START BLOWING HOLES IN THE WALLS UNTIL I FIND YOU!"**_

Instinct drove his feet forward, knowing that Bakugou never joked around when he was angry, and he had _never_ heard him be this angry, walking out the door to find the explosive teen looking back and forth in the hall before the sound of the door made him snap his sights to him, "Kacchan! What's wrong? Did something -?"

The boy was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of his costume and slammed against the wall by Bakugou, who looked absolutely _wrathful_ as he stared down at him, "Did _something_ **happen?** " He asked through gritted teeth, "You're damn _right_ something fucking happened!" He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen a few times, before shoving it in Deku's face, _**"This is what fucking happened!"**_

It was a news video, the time stamp showed it was from five minutes ago, _"- those of you just joining us, mere minutes ago a neighborhood in Tokyo was viciously attacked by a group of masked thugs,"_ The news caster said, adjusting his glasses as he delivered the news with a disturbed look on his face, _"Although only two people have been injured, one man in critical condition and a woman in mild condition, and several houses and cars were damaged, the most horrible detail of all, was that during the attack a local woman was kidnapped before local police and heroes could arrive, leading authorities to suspect the worst."_

A pit formed in Izuku's gut, the news casters speech was accompanied by pictures of the place in question, and Izuku recognized the place where he grew up instantly, his eyes were frozen on the screen as the video went on.

 _"Although the incident came and went before any of our people on the scene could arrive and capture footage, several concerned citizens were able to capture a video of the criminals in the act, one of which we will be showing you now,"_ The newscaster's face darkened, _"Be warned that the following video might disturb and distress some viewers, discretion is advised."_

The video that was being shown was shaky for a few moments, obviously being caught on a phone camera along with the sounds of whoever was recording swearing under their breath, but soon focused on a black van where about four people were gathered, one of them significantly larger then the rest, and trying to push something, or someone into the van.

Some distant part of Izuku's mind noticed that they were all wearing bird masks, and the pit in his stomach became an abyss.

The large criminal stopped his efforts to look behind him for a moment, before he stared straight ahead, right into the camera that was recording him, the one holding the camera barely had time to mutter a horrified 'oh my God' before the criminal shoved an arm into the van, and pulled out whoever they were trying to push in, and lifted them-her into view of the camera.

Izuku bleary noted that his mom actually had pretty long hair, she just kept it in a ponytail to keep out of the way of house work so he never had much chance to see her with her hair down.

He would give anything to not see her like she was in the video.

 _"Hey a**hole!"_ The massive criminal shouted, his curse censored by the news, _"Zoom in! Right here!"_ The one recording did as the man instructed, mumbling terrified mutters all the way, zooming in on him lifting up Inko Midoriya into the air by her arm.

His mom was a sensitive soul, it didn't take much to make her cry, it was a trait she passed down to him among a million other things, but this time was different, the tears running down her face as she struggled against her assailant's grip felt like a stab in the gut.

 _"Take a good Godd**ned look!"_ He shouted again, _"This is what happens when you stick your nose into yakuza business!"_ He lowered Inko back down, throwing her into the arms of his partners who quickly shoved her into the van before closing the back doors, before pointing a finger into the camera, _"EXPECT A CALL YOU BRAT!"_

Katsuki pulled the phone away and used both hands to hold Izuku by the collar against the wall, snarling like an animal, Izuku too shell shocked to try and resist his grip, " _This is all your fault you piece of shit!_ "

Izuku tried to gather his senses, all the information being flooded into his brain, leaving him almost speechless, "Why -" He started as he tried to pry Bakugou's hands away, to no avail, "W-Why are you so angry, Kacchan?" He tried to take a calming breath, make sense of this nightmarish situation, "What did I -"

"My _parents_ , you _fuck_!" Katsuki yelled, and for the first time, Izuku could swear he sounded _scared,_ "Those two people that got hurt!? Those were my parents!" He gripped the collar harder, "My dad's in the ER with a shattered rib cage and my mom nearly got her head smashed in by a fucking _car_ because _they tried to help clean up your fucking mess!_ "

"M-my -"

"The stupid shit you pulled in the morning, Deku!" Katsuki growled, "Everyone knows you messed around with the fucking _yakuza_ and now my parents are in the hospital because _you don't fucking **think!"**_

"Leave h-him alone!"

The two boys slowly turned their heads to see Eri, having flung aside the door to the nurse room to stare at Katsuki with anger, anger that quickly faded as the boy glared at her with renewed rage, making her cower and freeze up where she stood.

"Is this her?"

Izuku didn't like how Bakugou was talking, didn't like the way he was looking at Eri as he did, suddenly something started to burn in the back of his throat.

"Is she that _fucking_ brat?" He growled, taking one hand off of Izuku to take a single heavy step towards her, eyes dark and blind with wrath, Eri was shaking by now, tears of fear forming in her eyes as Ochako exited the room and bent down to wrap her arms around her, "IS SHE THE REASON MY PARENTS ARE IN THE HOSPITAL!?"

The image of his mother, held up in the air by her arm, clearly in pain and terrified, solidified in his mind, the phone call he received from Overhaul crawling forward to rest on his nerves.

It was all too much.

Before he realized what he was doing, Izuku grabbed Katsuki by the wrist of the arm that held him against the wall, pulled Katsuki away from Eri, and snarled, "Leave her out of this!" before his other hand delivered a smashing haymaker into the blond's jaw, sending him careening down the hall.

A muted silence covered the girls as they watched the scene. Izuku stood protectively between them and the angry teen already staggering to get up. "I did what I thought was right - like a hero _should_ , Kacchan! And I have to bear that responsibility, and I do with all my being!" He all but screamed.

"Deku…" Katsuki growled viciously as he got to his feet, glaring them all down. "You ba-" his retort froze on his throat as his body seized and collapsed.

The air felt heavy with tension before a quiet whimper pierced it. Izuku turned to the sound and felt a small body around his leg. Eri had slipped from Ochako's arms to Izuku, unsure of why, if only to feel safer from the explosive man.

"It's okay, Eri-chan." Izuku said, patting her head. "He's just worried… in his own sort of way." Her only response was to hug him tighter.

Ochako got to her feet unsteadily, partly from the shock of what had just happened, and walked over to him. "We…we should probably get to the others…"

"Ah- right." Izuku said, still not registering what he had done, only picking up Eri in his arms (and her refusing to stop the embrace) and make their way to the meeting in silence.

When they entered the room, Gran Torino glanced at the scene, and despite the chance to tease them, noticed more the look of concern on the boy's face. "Oi, brat, something happen out there?"

Izuku stiffened at the address, before readjusting his hold on Eri. "We-well, you see -" he was cut off as his cell phone began to ring. Taking his free hand, he looked to the caller ID and immediately answered it. "Mom! Are you alright?! Are you okay!?" Silence was only on the other end, until -

"I'm sorry, but your mother can't come to the phone right now." An unnervingly familiar voice said casually.

Izuku froze, his grip on Eri tightened. "Chisaki!" he seethed gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh, no, no, no," the man on the other end sneered. "You lost the right to call me that by gaining my ire, _hero._ My name is Overhaul."

* * *

Overhaul slowly paced back and forth, holding the phone to his ear as he menaced the boy on the other end, "Judging by your tone of voice, I gather that you've managed to catch the evening news."

He could hear the boy grind his teeth against each other as he snarled, "What are you playing at? Where's -"

"And what an evening it's been," He continued, ignoring the boy, "Traffic jams all over Kyoto, a fire in Osaka, and a kidnapping in Tokyo!" He chuckled mirthlessly as turned slightly to look at his guest, sitting in a wooden chair with out any binding to speak of, but flanked on both sides by one of his grunts, glaring at Overhaul with her hands in her lap, "What is the world coming to I ask-"

"Stop messing with me!" He shouted, his voice carrying out of the phone and reaching Inko, making her bunch up the fabric of her skirt and bite her lower lip, "I know you have her -!"

"Interrupt me again," Chisaki said slowly and calmly, "And the next time you hear from me is after finding one of your mother's limbs in a small brown box." Silence ruled for a moment, the only sound coming from the woman covering her mouth with her hand, Chisaki let it sink a bit deeper for a moment before he continued, "Now, as you know, I had Inko-san brought to me, so we can have a long conversation about your transgressions against me."

The boy growled but said nothing, Overhaul could just about hear more voices from the other line, muted and muffled.

"And she had every right to know about them of course," He laughed a little, "A duty in fact! As when a child misbehaves, it reflect poorly on the parent," He looked more closley at Inko, taking a few steps towards her while keeping eye contact with her all the while, making her tense up, "And she _must_ be your mother, Izuku-san, you have her eyes after all."

" _Stay away from -!_ "

"Do you want me to send them to you?" He hissed quickly, the scar above his eyebrow twitching, when a few moments passed he relaxed and continued, "You are in no position to make any kind of demand Izuku-san, all you can do, is listen and do as your told, like a proper young man," He leaned over Inko, the tip of his mask and inch away from her nose, pulling the phone a bit away, "Is he a proper young man, Inko-san?"

Inko narrowed her eyes at her captor, clutching the fabric of her skirt a bit tighter, "Don't use my first name so brazenly, Chisaki-san, you don't know me that well," Her voice was level, polite, but with an undercurrent of fire, although it shook in select places betraying her fear, "And my son is more a man than you will ever be."

A few minor chuckles and mummers passed along the room, but Chisaki only raised an eyebrow before returning to the call, "Inko-san has a lot of faith in you Izuku, I would suggest you don't betray it, understood?"

The other line was quiet.

"I asked you a question, _do you understand_?"

"Yes!" was the hurried response, the boy continuing in a far more subdued voice, "I understand… Overhaul, sir."

"Good," He motioned with on of his hands towards one of the grunts, who handed him a piece of paper, "Here's what going to happen, I'm going to let you talk to your mother, who's going to tell you _exactly_ what to do, and you'll do it, got it?"

An angry breath was heard, "Yes, I got it."

Overhaul grunted, then looked back at Inko, handing her the paper, after a moment she took it with an unsteady grip, and took a look at the contents. The script was tight and clean, every letter precise and easy to read, if it wasn't for a few places where she could see more pressure was placed on the paper, she would have thought it was printed straight out of a computer.

"Say _exactly_ as written," He said mildly, "Try and do anything else Inko-san, and there will be… consequences."

Inko glared at him for a moment before putting the phone to her ear, "I-Izuku? Can you hear me dear?"

"Y-yeah mom," He tried to sound brave, but she could tell, he was trying his hardest to keep his composure and stay calm for her sake, it broke her heart to hear him be so scared, "I-I can hear you."

She gulped, forcing a smile to try and help him, and herself, stay focused, "Everything is going to be alright dear, j-just listen okay?" She cleared her throat as she took a closer look at the paper and started reading, "Izuku Midoriya, you are suffering from a disease that has plagued the world for years," As she read a bit ahead, the words started to leave a bad taste in her mouth, "A chronic, terminal sickness that must be pulled at the roots, an illness called heroism."

She stopped, bile rising in her throat as she read a bit more ahead, Izuku noticing her prolong pause, "It's okay mom, keep going," He tried to reassure, "I'm not blaming you for this, just keep doing as he says, I promise I'll get you out."

Taking another deep breath, Inko continued, "You mind is rotten and your spirit fetid and weak, and in your folly you took away something that is worth more then your life," She could picture Eri as Izuku described her, a little girl with ruby eyes and ivory hair, the thought that anyone could think of a child as a _something_ disgusted her to the core, "And because of that, you owe me recompense."

She stopped again, the next few words shocking her still, Chisaki leaned down to be at eye level with her, "Keep reading, Inko-san."

"Y-you -" She stuttered, gulping down more bile, as she glared at the yakuza, anger pricking at the side of her eyes, "You have a high debt on your head, and I will have it payed," She felt her throat tighten and tears falling as she kept going, "And you will pay it, either with Eri, or…or w-with your h-h…"

"Mom?" Izuku asked, hearing the panic rising in his mother's voice, dread lacing his tone, "Mom, please just -"

"I'm somewhere old!" She shouted quickly, dropping the paper as she clutched the phone with both hands, unwilling to finish it, "Somewhere that hasn't been fixed in-!"

She didn't get to finish, Overhaul snatched the phone out of her hand, glaring down at her with with dead, pitiless eyes, "I warned you, Inko-san," He looked up at the two men at her sides, "Hold her up."

"What's going on!? Mom!? What's Happening!?"

The boy's panic filled chattering reached Overhaul, who returned the phone to his ear, "Your mother disobeyed me, so now you both must suffer the consequences."

"Chisaki! Don't you _dare hurt her or I'll -!_ "

"Put me on speaker," The criminal said calmly, "Put me on speaker… and make sure Eri can hear me."

"What!?" Izuku shouted, sounding impossibly more angry, "You're out of your _mind!_ If you think I'm going to let her listen to whatever _garbage_ you have to say then-"

"You have until the count of 10," He continued, utterly unaffected by Izuku's shouting, "Or you will never see your mother alive again."

"Y-you can't be-!"

"One."

"W-wait!"

"Two, three."

"J-just hold on! Let me just-"

"Six, seven, _eight,"_

 _"Wait!"_

 _"Nine,_ te-"

" _Please don't!_ " A different voice this time, soft and terrified, Overhaul smiled under his mask, on some small way he missed it, _"Please just stop hurting people! PLEASE!"_

"Eri," Chisaki said calmly, "You should know better then anyone, I never hurt anyone without reason, all this came about because you ran off."

"Stop it!" Midoriya again, sounding _supremely_ angry, "Just do what you want and -"

"Quiet boy," He said impatiently, before returning to a calmer voice, "And keep quiet, trust me when I say you don't want to miss this, and Eri," He started speaking slowly, kindly even, his voice pitched low and calm, "I want you to listen harder then anyone else who might be in the room with you, listen closely and carefully, so you can remember this for the rest of your life."

"P-please…" She sounded close to crying, he hated it when she did that, always gave him a headache, "Please don't…"

"And while you're listening, I want you to keep one thing in mind," His voice turned cold and rotten, his eyes narrowed into slits, " _All of this, every last bit of it, is **your fault**._"

He turned to Inko, who was looking at him with tears of anger and fear running down her cheeks, he let her squirm a bit in the grasp of his two henchmen before turning to one of them, and giving him a clear, simple command.

"Break her arm."

* * *

Everyone in the meeting room felt their blood freeze at the sickening twisted crack of marrow in flesh, and the screaming thereafter rattled their veins.

Fatgum balled up his fist on the table, the wood splintering beneath it. Ryuukyuu covered her mouth to halt any bile, though her skin began to become rough and scaly. The interns gaped with hollow eyes, unsure of how to respond. Only Nighteye, Aizawa, Nedzu, and Gran Torino sat solemnly.

But Izuku? He was feeling his world crash around him and be sucked down a whirlpool. His mother screaming in pain… it was worse than when he was diagnosed Quirkless. He collapsed on all fours, the phone falling speaker-up.

"Expect a call in a week." Overhaul stated before the line went dead.

No one said anything, just silence echoed in the room until a strangled whine pierced through. Everyone looked to the sound, and saw Eri curled into a ball, her tiny hands digging into her hair as she stared into nothingness and the whine was becoming a garble of words.

"Itsallmyfaultididthisitsallmyfaultididthisitsallmyfaultididthisitsallmyfaultididthis…"

It was repeating over and over again, and no one knew what to do, but then Izuku wrapped his arms around her gently, soothingly on her back.

"It's okay, Eri-chan."

Those words stopped her panic, but soon started mewling, trying to escape his grip out of some unnerving fear.

* * *

Inko bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, after the initial flare of pain in her arm made a scream of utter agony tear through her throat, a need to stop herself from making more noise had risen in her mind.

The thought that Izuku heard her scream hurt almost as much as the broken bones in her arm, and as she laid on her knees with her one good arm still held in a vice grip while her broken arm hung uselessly at her side, a flare of defiance went off in her mind, making her bit down as hard as she could to keep her mouth shut.

As she heard him step forward towards her, a thought made it through the blur of pain in her mind, _'This is the last time he'll hear me scream.'_

"Thank you for your cooperation, Inko-san," He said mildly, pocketing her phone like he owned it himself, "Your reaction was about what I expected from you, I'm sure Izuku got the message perfectly."

She looked up at him, glaring through the tears falling down her cheeks, a thin line of blood running down her chin from her mouth.

"Don't worry though," He continued, as if they were talking over tea, "So long as you and your son behave yourselves and do as I say, this will be the last time you'll need be hurt." He looked up at the two minions who were at her sides, "Take her away, she'll need medical attention."

"Uh, boss," The one still holding her good arm started, "The only room with any vacancy is um…the place where…" He rubbed the back of his head, " _You know_ is staying, you sure it's okay?"

Overhaul didn't say anything for a moment, a strange look passing in his eyes, "Like I said, our guest needs medical attention, and preferably the best we can offer."

He said no more after that, the two getting the message while picking her up from the floor, "Easy there miss," The one who broke her hand said, kindly, gently holding her up by the waist as he kept her broken arm steady as he walked with her, "We'll need to get you in a cast…"

She didn't listen, didn't listen to any word any of them said as the lead her away. All her strength she reserved for keeping what ever cries of pain might come out of her from doing so, and in her mind she could only pray for her son, pray that he didn't blame himself for this.

In some bleary part of her mind, she could only hope that girl Eri didn't do the same.

The way she begged Chisaki to stop, the way he talked back to her, the _things he said_.

It was almost enough to make her cry all over again.

As the grunts dragged her along, her mind wondered in an attempt to ignore the pain in her arm. And she had plenty of time to do so, seeing as the henchmen kept turning corner after corner, walking through over a dozen hallways that she _swore_ all looked the same, made up of plain, white walls that were all the same height, the ceiling and floor flat but regardless she felt like she was going up and down several feet every few hallways.

Or maybe that was just the pain, that was certainly an option.

After who knows how long, at least ten minutes though the pain in her arm as she was dragged along made it feel longer, they came upon a door to a room. It was as simple as the rest of this place, but Inko thought it looked significantly cleaner then the rest, almost new.

"Get in," One of the grunts said as another opened the door, pushing her lightly to quicken her pace, the inside of the room giving her pause. It was obviously a room meant to serve some medical purpose, a few cabinets filled with pill bottles, and a half dozen hospital beds lining the north wall.

Only a single one of those beds was taken, the person on it, attached to all sorts of life monitoring machines, not stirring to the sounds of her being pulled towards the bed right next to them and roughly put on it.

"A doctor will be here in a minute to get you in a cast, so just stay put." The one who broke her arm said, though she didn't have much choice, as the other one produced handcuffs out of nowhere and used it to bind her good arm to the bed.

"I'll try." She muttered, trying to get as comfortable as she could on the bed with one broken arm and another bound in cuffs, watching the two slowly leave and close, and lock, the door behind them.

She looked at the room again, only one fluorescent light was on, and even then just barely, the walls were cracked all over and there were no windows at all, the only sounds to be heard in the room was the steady beep of the life monitor and the breathing of the two people in it.

She thought back to the call she got from Izuku right before it all went crazy, where he said Eri was scared to death of needles and doctors…

"Well no wonder," She said out loud, scowling at the state of the room, "If this is the best medical care she got, of course Eri-chan would be scared of doctors."

Suddenly, the beeping of the life monitor sped up, the person on the bed stirring, and whipping his clouded over eyes to stare at Inko, "Eri?" He wheezed, coughing up a storm right after, only to continue to stare in Inko's general direction, as if he could only barely see her, "W-where's Eri?"

* * *

Izuku was dashing through the halls, a fraction of a percentage of One for All coursing through him. His mind unfocused, but determined to seek aid from the only one who could help. He had to find All Might.

After Eri had passed out again from the struggle in his grip, Izuku had left the room, asking his classmates to look after her while he went out. He didn't even hear their acknowledgement of his request, but he trusted them. He was about to pass the shoe lockers when he spotted the oh so familiar skeletal form of his mentor. He was in a fitted All Might track suit, doing some leg stretches. Izuku stopped running, but skid across the wooden floor before calling out. "ALL MIGHT!"

The man nearly jumped out of his suit as he spun around, a stream of blood swirling into the air from his mouth. "WHO IS THA- Oh! Midoriya, my boy. There you are." Izuku took a moment to catch his breath, but he did not meet Toshinori's sunken eyes. This set off some warning bells in his head.

"All Might." The younger man said evenly. "When Sir Nighteye was your sidekick, was his Foresight infallible?" The silent answer pressed him to raise his head, the eighth bearer of One for All felt a chilling determination in Izuku's red, tear-stained face. "Was there any point that his gaze faltered what happened?!"

Toshinori gaped at his appointed successor, a twisting in the pit of where his stomach once was began to churn. After a moment, he sighed and answered.

"No… not in the time I worked with him." He stated, regret at having to tell Izuku as such. He saw the boy's scarred hand clench before he continued. "before we went our separate ways six years ago, he told me desperately that if I continue as a hero… I would be killed in action." Toshinori sighed heavily as he slumped onto a nearby bench. "The deadline for that is less than a year away, not that it mattered to me then. I figured I would continue as is, doing what I was driven to do, but then I met you." He saw Izuku tense up at the reality of his words. "I saw the same embers that I had when Nana saw me, but it also scared me, thinking about the possibility of leaving a fresh bud of heroism break down in the outside world… for the first time, I didn't want to follow her experience." He straightened himself as he held out a fist, before shifting into his iconic muscular form. "I would twist the hands of fate, if I could ensure that you can grow as an exemplary hero."

Izuku felt a warmth surge in him as All Might withered back. His hero's words filling the hollow gap of the chaos in his mind. Truly, even retired, he was the Symbol of Peace. He gazed at his hand before speaking.

"Right before I left to find you, Sir told me about the vision he saw of Eri-chan -the rescued girl's - future." His fingers shuddered as they became a fist. "He said there was a fissure in his sight, one in where she's safe with those who care about her, and in the other…" he stifled. "- worse than anything we could imagine."

Toshinori felt his tired muscles twitching in vigor and dread, but he stayed silent as the boy continued.

"Whatever Chi- Overhaul, is planning, whatever he's done, he's confident and can't be taken lightly." Izuku tightened his own fist and held it out just like All Might did earlier. "I know that we still have so much to do, so let's bend that fate together, for everyone's sake!" His voice rose as the air stilled in the twilight sun. "And that's why I need to speak to someone…"

* * *

A few days later, a heavy door opened in a cell, catching the occupant's attention. Senses dulled and limited, the man straightened himself up as much as he could in his restraints, a low chuckle wheezing through the tube in his throat as a weary grin graced his scarred visage.

"Well, well. So the torch has passed again…" All for One sneered as a boy in green sat in front of the plexiglass barrier between them. "Welcome to my parlor, Number Nine, what can I do for you?"

* * *

 **Didn't expect that, did ya?  
**

 **Yup, minions, this is the quintessentially FIRST fanfiction where Izuku and All for One interact where Izuku is not a villain, YAY US!**

 **Leave a review and try to scream about it, why don't you? please? we may write more faster~**


	4. Desperate Measures

**HELLO, EVERYBODYYYY~**

 **The mad man with the mad plan here with the latest installment, courtesy of myself and Rex!**

 **also, yes, after reading Conversations with a Cryptid on AO3, along with another story, Yesterday Upon the Stair, Made you Look is the third story to have Hero!Izuku face-to-face with All for One, but IT IS ALSO the first to have a very VERY special guest**

The air felt heavy in the sterile stockade of who Izuku would be easily pressed into saying was the most dangerous supervillain on record. Even bound and supported as the scarred man was, he held not weakness. No apparent hostility. Just a weary casual smile beneath the oxygen mask, the tube in his throat shifting with eased breathing.

This was All for One, the nemesis of over eight generations of heroes.

Izuku felt his hands tighten as he recalled his plan.

 _Flashback_

 _"Midoriya, your reckless actions have caused concerns," Aizawa sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose at the statement the boy had brought to the room. "But this… how can I put it…"_

 _"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Eijirou, Mirio and Gran Torino yelled out._

 _Izuku had just told them about his idea. They needed to figure out where Chi- Overhaul had taken his mother, but given the extremely vague clue, it would take too long to search for the places where they could be. So they needed someone who knew the old ways, someone who could understand the traditional organization of society's underbelly._

 _Only one fit the bill._

 _"I know it's crazy, but who else would know about them to such an extent?" Izuku pleaded._

 _"How about anyone else?!" Torino vented, waving his cane and gritting his teeth._

 _"Come on, man. We saw that guy, and he's no joke!" said Eijirou. "I mean yeah, All Might kicked his ass and everything, but still!"_

 _"Midoriya, be reasonable," Mirio eased his panic, before asking, "why would he even give you the time of day?"_

 _"Because, if anything, All for One is cunning." Izuku stated. "If has fought All Might twice, and who knows how many others have crossed his path, he knows more than anyone about survival, and controlling others…" Izuku paused before steeling his nerve. "I'm going to get him to -"_

 _"- Do absolutely nothing."_

 _Izuku choked on his breath as Sir Nighteye bore his gaze at him. The older greenet had stood up from his position and loomed over the table between them._

 _"You have the right idea, but your naivete is verging on complete incompetence." Sir spoke sternly. "You have no idea of what that monster is capable of. Don't forget that you are still under my employ, Deku. I am within the right to stop this foolish gamble."_

 _Izuku felt his heart stall as what could be the only chance to save his mother slip through his grasp. He felt like the ground was about to swallow him up when another voice spoke up._

 _"I don't like it any more than you, but Young Midoriya is right."_

 _The attention was brought to the doorway as the tall blond skeletal man stepped through. The room fell silent as he walked beside Izuku._

 _"All Might…" Izuku felt his eyes water as his mentor stood next to him. The former hero gave a small smile at him before glancing over at his former sidekick._

 _Sir Nighteye felt a twinge of pain in his chest at seeing his idol alongside his charge. No matter how sunken the gaze was, he couldn't deny that spark of trust, the trust that so long ago he once held, but shunned it away in desperation for safety._

 _"All for One is many things;" Toshinori said, "manipulating, sadistic, vindictive, but no matter what he did, he always has been one to puppeteer whoever he sees useful…" the man sighed, "I can't say for sure if he will do anything, but if it means lives can be spared, then why not take that chance?"_

 _The room was silent again as Toshinori put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Midoriya, my boy, why don't you and the other students take Young Eri-chan around the campus? I'll take it from here."_

 _Izuku stiffly nodded before glancing over at Ochako, who had Eri sleeping in her arms. The students all got up and left the room, following the door closing and a gravelly voice shouted out with several others as a din began._

 _"Geez, Midoriya," Mirio had to chuckle as they all walked down the hall. "I don't think I've ever seen Sir that mad before."_

 _"Th-that w-was mad?!" rattled the young hero, still shaken from the interaction._

 _Nejire popped in front of Izuku. "Well yeah! That guy is always the burr-de-stern type. I've heard that's why he has that tickle machine. Hey~ Tamaki! Let's get you strapped into that thing! I wanna see you laugh!"_

 _"Please, no, Hadou-san…" Tamaki whimpered before he was glomped and spun around._

 _"Nejire-chan!" The girl squealed as she performed an airborne German Suplex with bouncing into the air, only not striking him into the floor and continuing to hop about._

 _"O-oi! Don't mess with him like that, senpai!" Eijirou gaped as he ran over to stop the periwinkle Tigger. The rest of them let out a weak laugh at the scene, until a murmur got their attention. Izuku saw Eri's eyes flutter open, but his heart clenched when they reflected panic and she tried to huddle in on herself in Ochako's arms._

 _"I'm sorry I'm sorry! It's all my fault! Please don't be mad at me!" she cried, grabbing her head as tears began welling up in her eyes. Eri expected shouting, berating, even a hard hand, but as she flinched with fingers touching her head, she noticed they were still gentle, still as kind as when they carried her to safety. She lifted her bright red eyes to see the calm gaze of Izuku, a sad, meaningful smile on his face._

 _"It's alright, Eri-chan. I'm not mad at you, no one is." Izuku eased her. "I'm mad at myself for not realizing the response to my actions. But I'm going to make it better. I promise."_

 _Eri's mind began to shudder._ 'Why? Why is he sorry? It's my fault, it's always my fault. It's always been my fault…' _Her thoughts twisted into a spiral of confusion before the arms holding her jostled._

 _"Now, now, Eri-chan. Why don't we meet up with the rest of our friends?" Ochako smiled brightly. "I'm sure they'd love to meet you. What do you say?"_

 _A short silence followed before a small nod from the girl made the group smile._

 _End Flashback_

By the next day, everyone in 1-A had at least met Eri-chan. Izuku had slept in the living room of the Heights Alliance with her on the couch. The girls had their own reactions to her, the most exuberant being Mina, immediately hugging her and proclaiming her as the newest "horn buddy", as she explained to Eijirou when he got back.

Speaking of, Eijirou mentioned Katsuki had stormed off to the hospital to check on his folks, and Izuku remembered seeing him on their way to the dorm, but his furious state surprisingly didn't faze him as he turned his attention back to Eri.

Maybe it was a sign of growing up? Who knows?

It had taken some time, but All Might was able to get Izuku a pass to Tartarus, and by the following day, he was walking through the prison to the cell of the one who could help him, even as the bile collected in his throat.

Silence fell after All for One asked his question. Izuku could feel his heart and head beating in anxiety. How did he know about he possessed One for All? The scars covered his upper face, so he was legitimately blind. So how can he -

"I suppose you're wondering how I knew about your gift from All Might." All for One chuckles, the wheezing only causing it to be more menacing. "Well, for one, Shigaraki Tomura was quite verbal in his complaints about a boy who has similar abilities to your predecessor. Additionally, when you entered the room, eight bright stars collected within your person, with a ninth only just starting to glow. Finally, the only people that would even attempt to meet with me that can do so legally are the mutt of a police chief, that old dwarf Gran Torino, that bag of bones of a Symbol of Peace, and finally, his successor."

Izuku nodded, processing the verbatim. "So you used collective reasoning, word of mouth, and what I am to assume is Ragdoll's Search Quirk."

"Well done, boy." All for One smiled. "'Search' by itself is quite useful, coordinating limited positions and abilities, but compounding it with one or other sensory Quirks, like say 'Infrared', 'Echolocation', and one I entertain calling 'Van Gough', I can see to a fair extent." He paused before continuing his chuckle. "I will admit, you don't see much _green_ this far in the facility."

Izuku halted himself from the note taking he was doing instinctively as the villain described colors. He lifted his pencil from the paper and looked at the eyeless face.

All for One loosened his smile. "As amusing as this is, I doubt you're here to discuss Quirks or color theory."

"Amusing?" Izuku had to ask.

"As I said, boy, who visits me is also a factor, and anyone else holds so much contemt in my… line of work, as it were," All for One shrugged his shoulders minutely, "that I don't get a chance to discuss my hobbies."

Izuku nodded in thought. "Considering the amount of Quirks you've amassed, I suppose that makes sense to have those hobbies."

"Precisely." All for One smiled again. "Tomura never did care for it either, sadly…" He lifted his head and sighed, before looking at Izuku again. "So who are you?"

The ninth bearer faltered at the question. "W-well, like you said, I'm number ni-"

"Not that, boy." All for One stated, his mouth a line that was clearly expressing a frown. "All Might may be a complete dunderhead, but I don't need eyes to see you are more than a number for creativity. I always remember the bearers' names - so again, who are you?"

Izuku glared at the face of All for One, before calmly saying, "It's Deku."

A short pause held the air before the villain began to chuckle again. "Deku? Short for 'dekiru', I take it? A hero that can do anything… how twee."

Izuku felt something flare inside him. "Maybe it i-"

"Or is it that it was a childhood berate that took on a life of it's own, deeming you as useless as you feel right now?"

Once again, silence reigned the room. Izuku gaped at the twist of attitude. The villain's casual introduction, weakening his emotional defenses before boring at a point of truth.

This… was the real All for One.

"So you know." It wasn't a question, it was fact.

"Isolation is of little use on someone with enough experience in gathering information, give or take a few select Quirks." All for One smirked. "I must say, not as flashy a debut as All Might, but still, quite a tale."

"A woman's life is in danger." Izuku glared at the bound man.

"A woman's life always in danger, boy," the villain scoffed, before 'looking' closely at him. "You're probably too young for it to be a lover, so… oh, mommy dearest was taken? Not my favorite ultimatum, but it gets results." he shrugged again.

"Will he hurt her?"

"Eventually…" All for One said passively. "Don't be surprised if you get a hand in the mail, especially if you beat around the bush for what he wants."

Izuku looked down at his hands, pupils shaking as his mind panicked at the thought of holding the disembodied hand of his mother.

All for One continued talking, "I recall that after the incident in Hosu, one of Tomura's new allies has connections with the very gang you've gained ire from."

Izuku didn't even look up. "Overhaul said that Shigaraki wanted my head on a platter at their meeting…"

"Oh, so he actually decided to make contact, but 'Overhaul'?" the man clicked his tongue. "That's as much of a misnomer as 'Endeavor'."

Izuku looked at the man. "So you know him too?"

"Only by association." All for One said plainly. "He was an underling to to real boss of that particular group. Quite a powerful Quirk, a pity it was disorienting to his sanity."

"Disorienting?" Izuku asked, already taking notes.

"Perfect disassembly/reassembly, but coupled with an extreme aversion to human contact." All for One stated with a smile. "His loyalty to the man that brought him into the yakuza was only superceded by his loyalty to the ideals of the Yakuza as a whole."

Izuku thought hard about this information. Under his breath he asked himself. _"If he has such distaste for contact, but still holds to ideals… does that mean Eri-chan isn't related to him by blood?"_

"I doubt that he has so much as touched himself."

Choking on his thoughts, Izuku gaped at the wry smirk on All for One's face.

"Enhanced auditory Quirk?"

"Quite so. That habit of covering your mouth in deep thought makes it difficult to read lips." All for One laughed. "But this… Eri? While the boss of the group was quite compassionate to keep children off the streets, the mongrel you call Overhaul is not." The villain's smile got wider. "You took something necessary for his work, something that with it gone, he's been forced to turn to Tomura, and he's the type of person Tomura hates."

"Someone with power?" Izuku asked.

"Perhaps, much more likely because his Quirk is so similar to his own," All for One quipped. "Despite Tomura's little gaming… fetish… he's not one to take turns. He will see the girl as his own successor, he will break her even more than this… yakuza upstart has. And the one to shoulder the guilt? You, Number Nine." The villain smiled widely.

Izuku felt One for All course through his body, his eyes burning in fury, remembering Nighteye's split prediction, and imagining the unnerving smile of Shigaraki behind a broken Eri, mocking him in absolute.

" _He. Won't. **Touch her.**_ "

"Or what? You'll kill him? Some talk for a hero…" All for One sighed in dismay. "And here I had heard your intellect was quite brilliant, near on par with Number Three…" he clicked his tongue in disappointment. "From one of the last Quirkless of the East, I would think you would be better."

"I have nothing to prove to the likes of _you_." Izuku all but snarled. All for One hardly looked fazed.

"No, but you have _everything_ to prove to the girl" he stated, "And her like especially." He laughed before continuing, "The weak, the helpless… you have to prove that you can protect them." He shook his head. "I dont see it, but considering All Might as your mentor, I can understand." He sighed again, looking off into space, a scornful frown on his lips. "No matter the bearer, every single one fell to that naiive notion."

" _You're_ the one in prison." Izuku said hotly.

"And he's the one who **FAILED**!" All for One roared as he attempted to lunge at the boy, the restraints automatically tightening him to the chair. "He **failed** his mentor, he **failed** his friends, he **failed** his pretty little notions of peace and rest assured, he will **fail _You_**."

"…Is that how you feel about your brother?"

Despite his tirade, All for One was halted by that question. 'Looking' at Izuku, he could tell the question wasn't in malice, but… grief? Part of the man could see a silhouette flowing over the boy.

He felt a traitorous laugh bubble out from his broken throat. "…so you do have some backbone that Bakugou brat didn't grind out."

Izuku said nothing as All for One sat back in rest.

"Yabinshi Temple."

The man said in a weary voice, showing how old he was. The boy's eyes went wide at the name. He quickly jotted it down before All for One continued.

"The yakuza was more or less weeded out in my reign, but they will always hold to their roots and cause," he gave a sad smile at Izuku. "If I can offer any advice to you, Deku, know this: keep a close hand on those who you care for, you never know when someone will snatch them away." the smile became a frown. "Though I suppose it's a bit late for that."

Izuku stood up from his seat and put his notebooks into his bag. With a short bow, he said, "thank you for your time, All for One." He turned to exit, and just as he began to turn the handle, the man spoke again.

"You know, you would have been a much better successor to me than Shigaraki."

A brief pause held the air one last time before Izuku finally responded. "Now THAT I doubt, sir."

All for One laughed again. "Ah, but there is little doubt you'll come to see me again. And when you do, please, call me by my name. All for One has lived for long enough. There is only Suukikyou Rishirou left."

Izuku said nothing as he opened the door, and as it closed, the man left behind had one thought before the lock clicked.

 _'Heh, Ichirou, my dear little brother. You finally found a good one.'_

* * *

"How is your arm, Midoriya-san?"

"Broken, just like it was yesterday and the day before, doctor."

A plague doctor's mask raised it's beak from the clipboard to look at his patient, "Midoriya-san," He said, "I understand that this situation isn't exactly ideal,"

Inko pointedly adjusted the ragged blanket on her hospital bed with her good, but cuffed, arm, dust floating up from her movement, staring at her 'doctor' as she did so and without a word.

"But the fact remains that I am your doctor," He continued, with an indulgent sigh, ignoring her attempts to 'politely' annoy him, "Which means that your well being is my responsibility, so please," He made a placating motion with the hand holding his pencil, "Just go along with this, it'll make it easier for the both of us."

Inko stared at him for a moment, biting her lower lip and moving the fingers of her right hand from within the partial confine of her cast, before sighing and leaning back a bit on her thin pillow, "…there's been a few aches, lately."

The doctor nodded and went back to his clipboard, scratching down a few notes in a brisk, choppy fashion, "Right, where exactly?"

"Near the elbow? …next to the fracture."

"Right," He said sharply, continuing his scratching with out looking at her at all, "Does it hurt when you move it?"

Inko moved her arm experimentally, the dull ache she spoke of flaring up slightly as she moved it in the wrong direction, making her flinch slightly, but she bit down on the cry of pain before it could be heard, "Yes."

He kept taking notes, detached from the situation completely as he went through what he called his "responsibility", making Inko's stomach roil as she considered him, what expression did he have under that mask? Was it pity? Did he have any compassion for her and her situation at all?

Or did he have the same dead, wretched eyes that Chisaki looked at her with? Was she as much of a featureless pawn to be used and discarded at leisure to everyone in this God forsaken place as she was to him?

She's spent two days in here, on this moth bitten bed and in this rusted room, and everyone who came to check on her did so was such sterile effectiveness that it made her feel less like a person and more like a vase inside a metal case, without even so much as a glance in her direction that didn't preclude them checking that she was still securely cuffed to the bed.

The thought made her face go pale and a lump to grow in her throat, making it hard for her to breath, and yet her doctor only raised his beak once more to look at her with another pitiless, professional question, "Any swelling?"

She choked down the lump in her throat, taking a deep breath before she answered, "Less then yesterday." No use in thinking about that too hard, she realized. The more she thought about the fact (and it was a fact to her, no matter how hard her guards laughed when she said it) that Izuku was coming to save her, and the less she despaired at her situation the better.

He nodded briskly and finished his notes before placing his clipboard in the pit pf his arm and his pencil in his jacket pocket, "Right, guards will come to check on you in an hour, as per usual, tell them to call the doctor if you need anything."

(They never gave her any of their names, not the guards, not the doctor, and to be fair, she never thought to ask, the terror of her situation overriding her long ingrained politeness.)

As he started walking away, Inko felt something well up in her chest as she found herself peeking at the bed next her, and the occupant laying near motionless on it.

"E-excuse me," She spoke up, making him stop and look at her, "I've been meaning to ask," She pointed carefully at the bed's occupant, whose startling awakening two days prior with a panicked question still stuck in her head, although he had quickly lost consciousness again before she could answer, or even ask any questions of her own, "But… who is this?"

"Someone you will not bother." Was the cutting response, making her flinch, the goon turning slightly to menace her, making her flinch her pointed finger away from the man, and without another word he left, locking the door on his way out.

"Some doctor," She muttered, sighing in relief, "Didn't even ask me if i wanted anything for the pain."

The walls echoed her complaints back to her without any offering of a solution, leaving her once again alone with her thoughts, the vast majority of which consisted of her worrying for Izuku, as well as Eri, as she found herself doing more and more since the fateful phone call.

But, worrying for her son, and younger children in general really, was a bit of a default state for her, it was in her nature to worry about the entire world before she even started to consider worrying about herself.

 _("You really need to drop that habit In-chan," Mistuki said, years ago, a couple years after both of their boys were born, "Worrying about everybody is liable to drive you up the damn wall.")_

"How ironic, Mistuki," she muttered out loud, mirthlessly, "Worrying about everyone is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment."

"You're just like my wife," A voice wheezed to her left side, making her whip her head in the direction to see the bed ridden man coughing harshly for a moment, before turning his eyes in her direction, this time his sight was focused, looking right at her face, "She could never stop worrying… for me… for our daughter… for everyone…"

After a moment, a startled laugh escaped from Inko, relief washing over her as she tried to work her anxious face into an uneasy smile, "I-I suppose that's just natural for most mothers."

The man chuckled weakly, nodding minutely, before he started coughing again, his form shaking, and some of the machines he was hooked up to begin to beep a bit more loudly.

Inko's eyes widened as she instinctively tried to get closer to him to help, only for the cuffs on her arm and legs stopping her, "Are you okay!? Someone he-!"

"Don't!" He shouted mid wheeze, putting a hand to his chest as he breathed deeply, the machines slowly calming down, "No need for that one to come back in here," After one more chest rattling cough he settled back down, "Having a bastard like that tend to me will only make me sicker." His face twisted slightly, like he just realized what he said, and he turned to her, "Pardon my language, miss."

Inko was still for a moment, before another soft laugh left her, and she answered him with a week smile and a shake of her head, "Pardoned."

Shifting slightly to make himself more comfortable, Inko guessed from the looks of things that he could sit up, he looked at her with a deferring expression, "Another thing I need to answer for is startling you the last time," He bowed his head as much as his position allowed, "Forgive me for that miss, I am, shamefully, not in full control of myself."

"No need to apologize for that, sir." she said with another gentle shake of her head, "I am rather easily frightened, honestly, and it wasn't your fault to begin with -"

"Yes it is," He cut her off harshly, making her stare at him, "A capo is responsible for everything that happens in his organization, failures, screw ups, and all… and that includes what happened to your arm."

Inko looked at her cast for a moment, biting her lip at the sharp memory of the exact second her bones splintered with an ear splitting snap.

"I'm guessing Chisaki caused that."

She snapped her head to him, "How did -" She shook her head, "Do you know him?"

"I plucked him from a gutter when he had nothing." He said, his voice a mix of sorrow and anger, "I know him better then he knows himself." He shook his head and clenched his teeth, "Fed him, clothed him, made sure he had a roof over his head…" He stopped, not from coughing but more because he apparently could bare to say no more.

Inko gulped a little, a bit surprised at this shift in mood, a horrible thought niggling at the back of her head as he ranted, "Did…did he do this to you?"

His silence rang throughout the room, answering her as best as he would ever manage.

It was quiet in the room after that, the man silent as he stared upwards at the cracked ceiling, and Inko herself unsure what to say to get past giant drop of unease.

And suddenly, it hit her.

She cleared her throat, catching the man's attention, "You know, I've been awfully rude myself."

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Miss, I'm not sure what you mean, but you'd be forgiven for that, considering the circumstances -"

"I've been here for two days," She continued, barreling past his argument with little trouble, "And I haven't introduced myself!" She looked at him with a warm smile, the biggest she could manage at the moment, "And, regardless of the circumstance, that just isn't right of me."

The two stared at each other for a moment, and at once they started to laugh, some of then tension in the room dissipating easily between each peal.

Inko took a deep breath, before bowing her head down slightly, "My name is Midoriya Inko."

The man inclined his head and closed his eyes, his tone calm and respectful, "Nishkiyama Ryotaro, pleasure to meet you." His eyes widened, looking at her carefully, "Midoriya-san," He started, face filling with worry, "I asked you something the last time, where is Eri?"

Inko was surprised for a moment before she sighed in relief, that she could answer with no issue, "She's far away from here, Nishkiyama-san," She thought back to Izuku calling her for advise about her, and his kindly description of the quiet little girl, "She's in good hands, she's safe."

Ryotaro didn't look convinced, "Safe? So long as Chisaki is running things…" his face twisted in worry and anger, "She will never be safe so long as he is there to hound her every move."

"Not for long."

Inko's sudden and secure exclamation surprised him out of his mire, shifting his gaze to see her with a confident light in her eyes, but his fear thumped in his chest, and it tumbled out of his mouth, "He will chase her, and drag her back when he finds her."

"Not as long as my son has anything to say about it.

Ryotaro could only stare at her for a long, long time, before a small smirk lightened up his face, "Your son, eh?" He asked with genuine interest, "Would you mind telling me about the young man? He's beginning to sound rather… unique."

Inko shrugged, "I might as well, not like either of us will be going anywhere anytime soon."

The both of them shared a quiet laugh, before she started a mother's tale about her child, beginning with a certain video of a certain hero…

* * *

"Yabinshi…" Izuku muttered, recalling any information he had on that name. A cloud of murmurs seemed to follow him as he walked aimlessly through the facility. "Back when Quirks were first popping up everywhere, there was a cult following stating that the budding superpower phenomenon was a sign from God. It fell to shambles after some select groups were more likely extremists involved in… was it sacrifices?" he paused at the blank page in his memory, before shaking his head. "I'll have to check on that later… support for the religious movement dwindled when Quirks became more common, leading to possible disbanding, it could test to reason that Yabinshi would be a former place of worship that fell to disrepair after the fallout, but can I really trust All fo-"

 ** _BRZZZTZZZZZRRRRRR_**

 _"YAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHHH!"_

The mumble storm dispersed as the sound of electricity burned the air, followed by the guttural screaming that was strangely familiar. The stark white walls reflected flashes of light past the right corner in the hall, and turning that way, he was surprised at what - or rather who - he saw.

In a light-gray chamber, with a wide panel of plexiglass giving a view inside, was a writhing mass of red. Tendons swelled in waves against each other, but another flash arced throughout them with the room humming as the mass began to rest. The man had his back to him, but the way he hunched over reminded Izuku of an older Katsuki, the spikey blond hair nearly cemented the image, except for the porous craters of scars in the skin that were no doubt from several large sharp objects impacted at a high velocity. The man turned his head and let out a snarl, defining the vicious scar on his face and the gaping socket where his left eye once was.

"You punking bastards think you can keep me here!?" Muscular growled out to no one. "No prison can hold me! And when I get out, that brat is the first one I'm gonna kill!"

"That's never going to happen, Muscular." The words echoed through the hallway. It took Izuku a moment to realize it was his own. He would have cursed to himself, but remembering Kouta welled similar emotions to Eri. ' _Huh, maybe after all this, I should try and see if they can meet. Eri-chan can make friends her own age… or supposed age… I really need to figure that out soon.'_

As his thoughts rambled, Muscular had turned his only eye to the young man. He gave a savage grin as he recognized him. "Well, well, well, if it ain't Midoriya. Didn't think I'd get to see your puny self around here."

"Just passing by after a chat with you last employer." He said tactfully, "and considering your current predicament, you won't, or rather _can't_ escape from the room." He didn't know why he was goading the man, but maybe it was to calm himself down moreover that before.

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?" The brute sneered, flexing his grip at his side.

"That room is outfitted with sensors that activate the defenses whenever you try to use your Quirk." Izuku said pointedly, already doing his analysis. "The electrical output combined with the possibility of the panels of that room being set on high-tension springs mean you can't punch your way out of there. Your Quirk only works on skeletal muscle, which relies on neural synapses when you literally direct your movements. So whenever you even THINK about trying to get out, you'll be short-circuiting yourself. Do it too much, and you'll be brain dead."

Muscular grit his teeth in aggravation. "You little shi-"

"And even if by some random chance someone on the outside gets you out…" Izuku stepped to the window panel, a scowl shadowing over his eyes. "I'll just put you back in before you get within a hundred miles of Kouta-kun or Eri-chan."

"YOU FUCKING BRAT!" the man snapped, his muscles engulfing his arm as he threw it forward, but Izuku's eyes widened and he panicked as the panel between them warped and stretched as Muscular's tendon-amassed hand made to grab him. Izuku stumbled back in surprise and grasped a door handle behind him. Not thinking about it, he flung it open and stepped inside, missing the look on Muscular's face as the room began to hum. "Aw shiiii-!"

The elastic plexiglass recoiled his arm at a speed that sent the literal musclehead bouncing around the room as electricity surged whenever he hit a panel, causing his body and Quirk to spasm out of his own control.

Exactly as Izuku stated.

* * *

Izuku slammed his back on the door, taking deep breaths to calm down. He mentally berated himself. Why did he have to mock one of the guys that's tried beating him into the ground? It was so stupid! He could only hope his analysis was accurate or things would go further south than ever.

"Not a bad performance, kid, but the image was ruined by that falter."

The Ninth Bearer froze at the stoic voice. He may have heard it months ago, but while the tone was less demanding, it was very distinct. He looked up to see a beragged man in a standing stockade brace. His hands locked in thick metal bracers that extended up past the wrist, but several more metal bands locked his hunching torso in place. The most distinct thing Izuku saw was the off-white bandanna over his eyes and a barely visible scar over where a nose should have been.

"S-Stain!?" Izuku gaped in surprise. He had expected Stain to be here, but not on finding him within ten feet!

"Been a while, hero." Stain said with a smile, not easing Izuku in the slightest.

"I-I-I'm sorry for barging in," the teen said with a bow. "I didn't know this was your room. I'll just see myself out -"

"Hold it."

Izuku had grasped the handle and a metallic buzz indicating the locking mechanism on the door was disengaged. He stilled at the order, and turned back to the shackled man. Stain's eyes bore into his, before continuing.

"If I had wanted to kill you, you would have been carried off by that winged freak…" his eyes glowered at the memory. Hell, if you think about it, the least you owe me is a damn chat."

Izuku looked at him for a moment before letting the handle go, the automatic clunk of the locks set back into place. He righted himself in front of Stain before speaking. "Midoriya Izuku, hero name: Deku." He finished with another bow.

Stain blinked at the introduction, before a light laugh welled inside him. After a few seconds, he replied. "Akaguro Chizome, former vigilante name: Stendhal, villain name: Stain." he nodded his head down. "Well met, Deku."

"…Likewise." Izuku paused, not fully trusting himself.

"I had overheard the guards talking about the debut of a 'hero in green' saving a little girl from Yakuza." Stain smiled. "Glad to see you still have that hero's heart."

Izuku remained silent.

"It's a rarity for good heroes to stand up and do the right thing these days without it becoming a publicity stunt."

"I just did the what I thought was best. I didn't think of consequences at the time…" Izuku muttered.

"I know, kid. The good ones never do, they just act without thinking."

Izuku felt that chill in his spine, and looked at the Hero Killer. His eyes dark, but a calm smirk on his face.

"Real heroes are the ones that do that. The impulsive self-sacrifice to keep others safe." Stain continued. "Unfortunately for you, criminals have already learned how to exploit this. The Yakuza are but one faction that have always twisted the good hearts of people." His face contorted into a grimace. "Either with anger or greed, their breed are a rot on this world." He glared pointedly at Izuku. "DON'T give him what he wants."

The young hero flinched before he found his voice. "He has my mom. The only family I have left…"

"And you would let a little girl suffer instead?"

"NEVER!" Izuku shouted in Stain's face, before he recoiled. "But what choice do I have!?"

"Go save her. Be merciless to the ones that threatened your life, show them why their way is wrong. Make them think twice before committing crime." Stain's voice became more heated as he gave each point, before he relaxed and smiled. "How hard could it be? You beat me."

"B-but I had help…"

"Then GET SOME HELP!" Stain shouted. "You went out of your way when the chaos began rampant, and instead of getting the small fries, you went to help a friend and get involved in something that wasn't your business to begin with!" He paused before calming his voice. "Your generation can become the pillars All Might left to be built. Be more than a single person to withstand the weight of evil."

Izuku looked at Stain in surprise. He didn't know why, but the words echoed on the same wavelength as the end of All Might's fight.

 _"You're next."_

Two words held the meaning so differently to so many people.

"You have a notebook on you, Deku?"

Stain's question broke him out of his thoughts, before Izuku scrambled to pull out a pad and pen.

"It may not be your style or anything, but you can use some of my old arsenal I have at my old apartment in Rakkusu. There's a locker I scavenged and it has my equipment when I was Stendhal. The passcode is 05032194."

Izuku paused as he wrote the numbers down. "Wait, that's the date of -"

"All Might's debut." Stain chuckles. "And if you're interested, look up Oguro in Naruhata. He's probably retired after the Trigger stint five years ago, but Knuckleduster is a man of conviction. If he can't help, he knows someone who can."

"Knuckleduster… the Cleaner of Naruhata?" Izuku asked. "He's a vigilante…"

"That's right, but he's got a soft spot for kids. Pretty sure he clocked that doofus Captain Celebrity once or twice…"

"Celebrity has a good Quirk, but his attitude…" Izuku mumbled.

"He's a shit hero. An insult to all heroes, except maybe Endeavor."

"That's not fair. Endeavor is just flaming shit."

The two paused for a moment before they burst out laughing. It continued for a few minutes before they both had to breathe.

"You're alright, kid." Stain chuckles. "Get going, security is coming soon to check on the incorrigible bouncing meathead, and it'll raise too many questions if you're in here."

"Right." Izuku nodded before opening the door.

"One last thing, kid." Stain called to him, making Izuku turn to face him. "When you get that scumbag brought here, it'll be good to hear how whatever his plans were foiled by the Mighty Deku."

Izuku's eyes went wide at this, his chest feeling tight with confidence. "Thank you, Chizome."

Stain gaped as the door closed, leaving him in isolation again.

"You're welcome, Izuku."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Izuku was in his street clothes, the large, imposing shadow of Tartarus far behind him as he walked in no particular direction, his backpack heavy with all the notes he had taken inside, the groaning voice of All For One still echoing heavily in his head, along side Stain's oddly encouraging tirade urging him to move and do something.

But that only lasted so long, as he walked further and further away from the prison, the situation again started to weigh down on him, the image of his mother's hand being handed to him from inside a box still made his stomach churn, the sudden meeting of Muscular which brought back memories of Kouta, which only made his worry for Eri's mental state even worse, and all of that mired with the flimsy, twisted hope Stain gave him right at the end, only served to make him feel dizzy, and whatever confidence he earned from what little info he managed to drag out of All Might's nemesis dissipating without much effort.

He had been given the whole day off from school in order to "interrogate" him (though that might have been too strong a word here) for any clue to finding his mother's whereabouts, and he could distinctly feel that coming out of that with only the name of a single place, which might not even be true, along with another lead from a convicted serial killer that probably won't lead anywhere either, could be considered as coming out more then a little empty handed.

So now here he was, wondering with no real destination in mind… and yet, as he continued, he could feel himself drawn towards a very particular place.

To Izuku, walking on this particular set of streets was less going in a direction towards a destination and more following a well worn reflex that you barely think about, feet moving on the tired concrete without much drive or purpose beyond "go forward", deftly dodging familiar pot holes and adjusting to uneven ground that has been there since he's learned how to walk.

He could draw it on a map while half asleep, although this was equal part due to his frankly manic talent of note taking than it was pure repetition over the years as he grew up.

Because of this, he could tell at the exact moment when he reached the edge of the point where everything went pear shaped.

Large cracks on the side walk.

Chunks of mortar and cement scattered about near the entrance.

And finally the glaring yellow of police tape sectioning off the area from anyone who would think to wander too close to the "crime scene."

Seeing it through the captured photos and video (which has been broadcasted constantly these past couple days) was one thing, actually being here, seeing the destruction caused to his childhood home, was quite another thing all together.

The front door was a pile of wood a few feet to his left, the rest of the entrance a gaping wound, as if a bomb had gone off. The rest of the immediate area had a bunch of other small pieces of cement scattered about… along with a car lodged into a wall, tell tail signs of the short lived fight the Bakugous had with his mother's kidnapper.

(My dad's in the ER with a shattered rib cage and my mom nearly got her head smashed in by a fucking car because they tried to help clean up your fucking mess!)

Back in UA, outside of Recovery girl's office and in front of Eri, Deku had defend himself and the decision he made, saying that he would live with the results and consequences of those actions, and he had meant it, every last word.

But standing here, and actually seeing what his decision had wrought, made a heavy weight drop to the bottom of his gut, making his fists shake at his sides as the full gravity finally began to descend upon him, and with no one to focus on, no Eri to comfort, no Nighteye to convince, no All For one to threaten, there was nothing he could do but stand there and see, truly see and understand, what happened, and all the people he had hurt… because he had wanted to act like a hero.

"Hey kiddo!"

His head snapped to look behind him, his thoughts untangling at the sight of an old man, clad in a plain jacket and jeans, beckoning him from behind the police tape… which Deku only now just noticed he had crossed to stand closer to the house.

"What're you doin' crossing police tape!?" The old man called out, adjusting his gold tinted sunglasses as he frowned at Izuku, his white-grey mustache visibly bending down with it, "If any officers show up here and see you you'll be in a whole heap of trouble!" He rubbed the top of his bald head in exasperation before he motioned for Izuku to come his way, "Now come on out already!"

"R-right!" Izuku stammered, quickly stepping over to the old man and crossing back out of the police taped area, "Thank you sir, I kinda got distracted…"

"I'll say!" The old man chuckled, shaking his head, "You looked like you were looking at something a hundred miles away!"

Izuku only nodded silently, "Yes, you're right, thank you for snapping me out of it," He bowed, "I won't do it again."

The boy rose from his bow and started to walk away, but the old man just kept looking at him, something not sitting quite right with how the boy was acting, "Hold on a minute," He called out, making the boy stop to look at him, "Ain't this a school day? Why are you walking around looking so lost?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "I-I got a day off of school sir due to," He stole a quick glance towards the ruined house, hoping the old man didn't catch (he did, easily), "Due to… a family emergency."

The old man was quiet for a moment, before he sighed and leveled a sympathetic look at the boy, "This is your house," He said gently, motioning with his head towards the building, "Isn't it?"

Izuku started, before he sighed and visibly sagged, the day leaving him exhausted in every sense of the word, "Yes sir, it is."

The old man nodded, walking over to Izuku, "So that would make the women that was kidnapped two days ago… your mother?"

Izuku nodded, feeling miserable and useless.

"So what I've been hearing on the news about some impressive young hero making his debut by snatching a child from under the yakuza's nose is true?" This time the old man smiled, a hint of respect coloring his tone, making Izuku look up at him slightly astonished, "Well I'll be, what are the odds?"

Izuku again rubbed the back of his head, the implied compliment making him fluster despite his downed mood.

The old man's eyebrows shot up of a sudden, "Hold on a minute," He scratched his chin, "I know you!" He exclaimed with a toothy, disarming smile, "You're that kid from this year's UA sports festival ain't ya!?"

"Y-yes sir," He stammered, slightly blushing now at the attention he was getting. Izuku was still not used to people treating him with such respect and admiration, "I'm Midoriya Izuku, pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine!" The old man chuckled, full on grinning, "Can;t believe my luck! Getting to meet such a promising, upcoming hero!"

Izuku could feel himself deflate again, the man's compliments sounding hollow when he heard them in the shadow of his ruined home, "I wouldn't say promising…"

"Why's that?" The man asked, incredulously, "Two days ago you saved a child from who knows what, from right in front of the face of a yakuza!" The man crossed his arms with a smirk, "Sounds like something a hero would do, if you ask me."

"Yeah, and look what that caused," Izuku said hotly, equal parts angry and panicked, as he gestured to the remains of his home, "My mom kidnapped and held for ransom, all because I acted without thinking…"

"Do you regret it?""

\- Izuku stopped, the question confusing him greatly, "Wh-what do you -"

"Do you regret saving that girl because of what happened after?" He kept going, his eyes stern yet gentle, a look Izuku had grown used to seeing in the eyes of Aizawa Shouta, "Well? Do ya?"

Izuku opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to answer, before he shook his head, unable to decide.

The old man was quiet for a moment, then he sighed again, looking towards the sky, "There's an old saying," He started, his tone wistful, "With great power comes…" The old man scratched his head, a grimace forming as he wrecked his memory for the rest, "Ah, shoot, I forgot the rest."

Izuku, on the other hand, opened his eyes wide in realization, his mouth feeling dry of a sudden, "Come great responsibility…"

"That's it!" The man snapped his fingers, grinning, "Anyways, what that saying means is that each of us, great quirk or no, have moments in our lives when we simply must take action, to do good or to make a difference." He shifted his shoulders, "And sometimes, it means acting like a hero."

Izuku just stared at him, an old image forming in his head, the man's voice beginning to sound familiar.

"And every time, with out fail, those actions we take have consequences," He let out a breath, his face showing off the years he's lived, "And heroes? Heroes have to tangle with that dilemma every single day on the job."

Izuku could see it, could see in his mind's eye an old, dusty news story he found in his attic when he was young, featuring an old, _old_ hero.

"And heroes don't just pop up with great quirks right off," The old man chuckled, "Although to be fair that's all you see these days, but even then they all had to work for it, trust their instincts, train and take risks… and make mistakes."

Izuku was starting to gape, he knew who this person was - _who he is_.

"And sometimes because of their mistakes, people get hurt," He shrugged, "A harsh reality, true, but no matter how impressive a power a hero may have, even if they're on top of the world like All Might… at the end of the day we're all still human, and all we can do is get back up, dust ourselves off, and learn from our mistakes, one day at a time."

"Excelsior…" Izuku muttered, starstruck, "You're the great, "The Man", the great american hero! Excelsior!" His face split into a ear to ear grin, unable to withhold his enthusiasm from being face to face with who might just be the greatest golden age hero of all time, "You're Excelsior -!"

"Calm down kiddo!" Excelsior hushed embarrassed, although his upper lip twitched at the corners, "Excelsior retired _decades_ ago, I go by Mr. Lee nowadays."

The boy tried to steel his face as well as he could, but his inner fanboy was making it very hard.

Mr. Lee sighed, "Fine then, maybe my hero name will make you listen a bit harder, cause this is the important part," He tried very hard not to roll his eyes as the boy took out a notebook, "Listen, what you did two days ago? Saving that girl? That's what a hero does, and whether or not you could have done something else doesn't matter," Izuku put down his pencil, looking intently at Lee, "And right now, there's no use in fretting over what happened because of what you did, the only thing you can do, is make steps to fix it," Lee smirked, "Wouldn't you say?"

Izuku thought back to what Nighteye said back when this whole mess started, about how Stain urged him to be a hero, thought back to Eri, to how grateful she was when he saved her, to how scared she was when she woke up at UA, how guilty she looked when Chisaki's phone call came… he looked up at Excelsior, eyes hard and determined.

"Let me ask ya again, kiddo," Mr. Lee smiled, "Do you regret saving that girl?"

Izuku smiled back, his answer resolute, "No, not one bit."

The old hero grinned, clapping Izuku on the shoulder, "Good! Now get moving!" He shouted with a laugh, "You got people to save don't you?"

Izuku nodded, "Right! Thank you Excel-" He stopped when the man gave him a dirty look, "Um, I mean Mr. Lee!" He bowed, "Really I needed that-now I gotta get back to-" Suddenly a ringing from his pocket caught his attention, and fishing his phone out and answering with a quick, 'Hello?'

Soon though, his face twisted in panic, and he took off in a mad dash, not even sparing a goodbye to the old man.

For his part, Lee just sighed, "Good luck kiddo," He muttered under his breath, "Though if you're anything like Torino said, you might not need it…"

* * *

Toshinori rubbed his shoulders as he rested on the couch in the teacher's lounge, another long day half way behind him.

Out of habit he took out his phone and looked at it for a moment, before putting it back in without calling anyone. He had been doing that all day since Midoriya left early in the morning to get to Tartarus for his requested "interrogation" of his long time enemy, stopping himself each time from actually calling him out of fearing he would seem like he didn't trust the young man to handle himself.

Which was completely untrue, he trusted Deku immensely, as well as his ability to be able to actually get something of value out of All For One.

The one he didn't trust was the wretched snake himself, bound and contained as he was. That point being the only thing he and his former sidekick Nighteye had been able to agree on to any degree during their… heated conversation two days ago.

Thinking back to that made All Might groan again, both out of frustration and regret, even after all these years he and Nighteye could not reconcile their differences regarding his decision to continue his hero work, and the argument over how useful, and safe, having Izuku talk with All For One would be didn't help matters one bit.

They where at a complete impasse, and had to defer to Nedzu's judgement on the matter.

Nedzu, to the surprise of everyone in the room, signed off on the idea, stating his trust in the security system in the prison to keep his student safe and the fact, since Izuku was the one who started this "mess" to begin with, he should be doing his part in "cleaning it up."

And that was that, both for the argument and whatever was keeping Nighteye in the same room as his former mentor, seeing as he exited the room without a glance in his direction, only stating that his office will be doing it's own investigations, and that he will be available at all times for any updates… and then he just left without another word.

Toshinori took out his phone again, his mind hovering over a different number this time.

He sighed again as his courage faltered, and just as he put his phone on the coffee table, he heard a polite knock on the door, "Excuse me? Are there any teachers present?"

All Might recognized the voice of Class 1-A's vice president in a moment, a smile lighting up his gaunt face, "Come in, Yaoyorozu-san!" The door opened and the young lady stepped in, bowing as she caught sight of her teacher, and next to her feet, a lump of white hair with a bronze horn sticking out peeked at him, making his smile a bit wider, "And Young Eri! So good to see you!"

The young girl peered cautiously from behind Momo's legs, the student, reaching down to gently pat her head before turning to Toshinori, "Same to you Toshinori-sensei," She looked down at Eri, a kind and gentle smile on her face, "You say hello too Eri-chan, this is my teacher Toshinori-san, remember?"

The little girl nodded before she looked at the slim man again, "H-hello, Toshinori-san."

All Might smiled as wide as he could as he stood up from the couch, "So then, how can I help you two?"

Momo smiled apologetically, "Excuse me sensei, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind watching over Eri-chan for a little bit?" She gently nudged Eri from behind her legs so she could stand in front of her, "With Midoriya-san away from school and Uraraka-san on assignment, there doesn't seem to be many students that she seems to be comfortable with that can keep an eye on her," She bowed again, "It's just for about an hour! While we study!"

"Calm down young lady," Toshinori said calmly, "It's no trouble at all, I'd love to keep watch over young Eri for as long as you need." After he was done, he sent a quick wink in Eri's direction, his well practiced showmanship skills kicking in, which rewarded him with the adorable sight of a light dusting of red on the little girl's cheeks.

Momo smiled as she bowed one more time, "Thank you very much, sensei!" She crouched down to be eye level with Eri, once again smiling as gently as she could, "Okay Eri-chan, you're going to be spent a little time with Toshinori-sensei for a while, okay?"

Eri looked at Toshinori for a moment just a bit apprehensively, meeting his kind and warm smile, before looking back at the young student, "O-okay Momo-san," She started worrying her hands, "Will you be back soon?"

"As soon as I can," Momo promised with a nod, "I'll be back in an hour, an hour and a half tops, okay?"

Eri hesitated for a moment, but then nodded slowly, and then watched as Momo left the room, twiddling her thumbs as she peered towards the tall symbol of peace, who simply kept smiling warmly at her.

"Well then. young Eri," He said, gesturing to his previously held spot on the couch, "Since you and I are going to spend a little time together, you might as well get comfortable, right?"

She was quiet for a moment, before nodding and mumbling, "Thank you, Toshinori-san." And hurrying over to the offered spot, her small form sinking slightly into the leather.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, peering over the top of the couch at her, and when she shook her head no he chuckled a little, "No need to feel modest, there's more then enough snacks here for the both of us."

"…do you have any apples?"

With a bright smile he went over to the small fridge that was off one corner in the lounge, and came back with a plate weighed down with a half dozen red apple slices.

"Have as many as you want."

She was quiet for a moment, before the faintest blush lit up her cheeks and she picked up a slice to eat, "…Thank you."

They sat like this for a while, the clock ticking away calmly, as All Might dragged a chair to sit in front of the couch while Eri nibbled quietly on her apple slices, every now and again another plate landing in front of her when she was near finished, which only made her blush harder but said nothing as she just kept up eating the slices.

"Quite the appetite on you young lady." Toshinori chuckled quietly, making her snap her head up to look at him, a small amount of apple juice dripping from her chin be she cleaned it up, "Did you not eat today before now?"

"…didn't feel like eating…"

"Worried for young Midoriya, are you?"

She didn't meet his gaze, focusing on the shining surface of the table and her last apple slice, which she poked a few times while it rested on it's rounded side, making it spin slowly around.

"…Midoriya can be a bit reckless, sometimes," Toshinori said, leaning back in his chair as he thought back to some of the boy's rather heedless actions over the last half year or so since he'd met him, "But he's always pulled through when he needed to, this time will be no exception."

"I'm the reason he has to do this in the first place…"

He caught Eri's miserable mumble, his face twisting in sympathy and surprise, "Eri-chan…"

"Because he saved me," She kept going, hugging herself and curling inwards, backing up until she was flush with the couch, her tone falling deeper and deeper in despair, "Because I ran away and he found me, his mom got hurt, Bakugou-san's parents got hurt, and now Izuku-san might get hurt because I wasn't strong enough to stay…."

Toshinori's eyebrows twitched, having been updated on what happened two days ago by Toogata, and what Overhaul had said over the phone to the poor girl, his moral fiber roaring in fury at how thoroughly the damned yakuza had managed to corrupt her way of thinking, "Eri-chan wait-"

"It's all my fault…" she started trembling, shaking her head and tightening her grip on her forearms as she curled further inwards on herself and muttering, a few tears dropping from her eyes, "All of it, all of it, all of it's my-"

"Young Eri!" The old hero roared, bolting up to his full height in a way that knocked his chair away from under him, and snapping her out of her panicked muttering so she could look at him, cheeks wet and eyes hopeless. He walked over to her, getting down on one knee and gripping her shoulders squarely so she would look straight at him, his voice stern and unwavering, "Listen to me dear girl, none of this is your fault, not one bit of it."

"B-but," She sniffed, blinking out more tears, "B-but Overhaul said-"

"Everything that criminal has ever said to you has been a lie," Toshinori stressed, keeping a tight a lid as he possibly could on his anger, she needed compassion right now, not righteous fury, "The only one at fault for all of this, for kidnapping Midoriya-san's mother, for hurting Bakugou's parents, for all of it, is no one other then Overhaul himself."

Eri could only sob quietly in his arms, clearly not convinced.

"And no one blames you either," He kept going, gently as he could as he rubbed her shoulder where he held her, "No one in this school thinks this is your fault, not the teachers, not the students, and certainly not young Midoriya."

"Bakugou-san…" She muttered, shaking her head, "Every time he looks at me… he's so angry."

Toshinori shook his head, inwardly cursing young Bakugou's inability to manage his anger… though considering currant events he could hardly blame him for not being able to calm himself, "No, no dear girl… well, at least not at you," The explosive blond had left school twice now to visit his parents, especially his father (who was stable but still in bad condition), in the hospital, only coming back when his mother's practically had to shove him out of the room, "He's angry at not himself for not being able to do anything to help his parents, but believe me, he doesn't blame you for this either."

Eri quieted down slightly, the worst of her panic leaving her, though hardly calm because of it, "Izuku-san's mom…he," She hiccuped, blinking tears out of her eyes again, "He'll hurt her…"

"I met Inko Midoriya once," Toshinori said, gaining Eri's full attention at last, before he moved his hand off her shoulders to pry her hands away from their death grip on her arms and rubbing the white part of her skin where she hugged so tightly, "And from what I saw, she is a strong person, strong enough to bear whatever Overhaul can think to throw at her," He held her small hand in both of his, "Have faith in her, Eri-chan, and in young Midoriya, and soon they'll both be back home, safe and sound."

She sniffed once more, no more tears coming out of her, but otherwise said nothing.

"Everyone wants nothing but the best for you, Eri-chan," Toshinori kept going, smiling warmly, "They all want you to smile and be happy," He let go of her hand and brought his near his face, "I know it's hard Eri-chan, and doesn't look like it'll get any better, but it will, I promise," He then pushed up the corners of his mouth with his index fingers, forming a wide, dorky smile, "So come on! Smile!"

Rubbing her eyes, Eri looked down on her hands for a moment, the corners of her mouth straining upwards, and yet it was unable to form even the smallest smile. She then tried to imitate All Might, pushing her fingers into her cheeks to try and form a smile, but eventually she stopped, sniffing again.

"I'm sorry… I… don't know how…"

Toshinori starred at her in shock, his mind racing at her admission and all it could mean, his long years of heroism and dealing both with villains of all types and the victims they left behind filling his mind as his mouth went dry.

 _This girl hasn't been saved at all._

Toshinori opened and closed his mouth, unable to think of anything to say in response, and before he could, he started to hear a commotion outside the room…a rather big commotion at that, "Eri-chan, wait here a moment."

She nodded quietly, leaning back on the cold leather of the couch as he went towards the door, yet before he could open it, it was slammed open from the outside, and there stood Tenya Iida, looking pale and distraught, "Sensei! It's an emergency!"

Toshinori and Eri both recoiled backwards from this sudden exclamation, the teacher recovering quickly to stand at his student's side, "Young Iida, what happened -?"

"It's Uraraka-kun!" He shouted, "She's in hospital!"

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUUUUUN**

 **ah, dramatic moments, where would stories be without you?**

 **be sure to review all the references you find and what you think of the chapter! Unless you're _scared~_**


	5. Flat Line

**After almost a year, we finally have enough of our lives back on track to post this beast. Hopefully the next ones will be easier to write.**

 **We would like to posthumously commemorate this fic to the Late great Stan Lee, for without his efforts, the world would be a much bleaker place. Excelsior Plus Ultra!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Flat Line**

As the sight of the hospital crept closer, Izuku couldn't get off the bus fast enough. Tearing through the crowd and out the back doors with little heed for anything other than finding the receptionist and making sure his friend was alright.

His anxiety had been eating away at him the whole trip over, the last couple days ramping up his usual paranoia a few notches. Ever since his mother was taken a seed of fear planted itself in his gut, would Overhaul be satisfied with just his mother? Would he target anyone else he cares for?

The sheer contempt Overhaul had grown for him and shown during the phone calls Izuku had gotten was not something to underestimate, there was no telling what a criminal of his type would do if he felt justified and slighted.

Hearing Uraraka was hospitalized sent his panic into overdrive, and until he could determine that she was alright nothing else mattered.

"For the final time, I'm nothere for my physical therapy!"

The familiar voice snapped Izuku out of his laser focus, whipping his head to see All Might arguing with a nurse a full 3 heads shorter than him…and losing.

"You can't be serious, you're all skin and bones! You should be in a wheel chair not rumbling about!" She took a firm hand on his forearm and started to tug, "Now come on-"

"Excuse me!" Izuku shouted, coming over to the arguing duo, Toshinori visibly relieved at the sight of his student, and a little white lump peering from behind his legs at the sound of his voice, speaking to the nurse. "You do know this is All Might, don't you?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow, before looking at Toshinori again more closely.

The retired Symbol of Peace raised one of his own.

The way her eyes widened in panic was almost enough to make Izuku laugh. "I am so-so sorry about that Mr. All Might-san!"

All Might took this with a surprising amount of grace, sighing calmly. "No need for that, but if you honestly want to make up for that little mix up…" He grinned widely, images of his many TV appearances springing to Deku's mind as he did. "Could you please direct us to the room of Uraraka Ochako?"

The nurse rushed off to get the name of her doctor and room number, leaving Toshinori and the extremely nervous Eri with Izuku…who just noticed her presence, eyes nearly bugging out of his skull, "Eri-chan!?" He whipped his head to look at her idol, "All Might-san! Why is she here and not at the school!?"

"Calm yourself young man, we're in a hospital." Toshinori gestured to a few nurses and doctors milling about the entrance hall of the hospital giving the hero student dirty looks, which he reacted to by rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "And as for Eri-chan…I tried to convince her to stay at UA…but-"

"O-Ochako-san helped me when I woke up at UA!" Eri spoke up of a sudden, a great deal of worry in her eyes, "so I want to help her too!" She took in the fear in Izuku's eyes as he looked at her and curled inwards slightly, "…please don't be mad…"

Izuku took a deep breath to calm himself and went down on one knee to look Eri in the eyes. "Eri-chan, I'm not mad," he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I was just worried, you're safe at UA but going out like this, even with All Might is-"

"But now you're here!" She shouted again, a hopeful look in her eyes, "and you said I'm always safe when you're here…right?"

Izuku took in her eyes, so full of trust and desperate hope, and something swelled in his chest, something bright and warm that made a lump grow in his throat, "y-yes, Eri-chan," he stated thickly, "you'll always be safe with me…that's a promise."

Toshinori felt a tiny smile tug at the corner of his mouth as he watched his successor comfort the young girl, a shadow of the hero he would one day become cementing itself in front of his eyes.

He cleared his throat to catch their attention, the young girl wiping at her eyes, "I'm glad you've settled that young man…but now that you're here, I must ask…any results?"

Midoriya's eyebrows pinched in thought for a moment before realization rose on his face with a firm nod, "yes All Might-san, I managed to gather some info." He thought back to his talk with All for-…with Suukikyou, "have you ever heard of Yabinshi temple?"

A look of intense concentration dawn on the retired hero's face, "hmm…possibly, I'll probably need to go over some of my old reports, but it sounds similar to something I've dealt with earlier on my career." He nodded, a bit more haltingly, to the boy, "it would also be wise to contact…Nighteye-san about this, he might remember this better than I."

Izuku nodded, putting a hand on Eri's head as he rose to his feet, "I will," he chewed his lower lip for a moment, "All Might…there's something else-"

"Excuse me?" A professional voice cut through what Izuku was about to say, the owner being a fairly young doctor striding over with his clean white coat and the nurse from before at his heels with a rather embarrassed look on her face, "are you the visitors for Uraraka Ochako?"

Toshinori turned to the doctor with a curt nod, "yes, I am Young Uraraka's teacher, I came over to check on her well being," he gestured at Izuku, "along with one of her close friends from school and…" he paused for a moment as he went to Eri, "…and someone rather close to them both."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at the young girl for a moment, before he smiled politely and nodded at Toshinori, "very good." He offered his hand to the teacher, who shook it, "I'm doctor Soro, I'm the one assigned to Uraraka-san."

Izuku lept up to the doctor, "is she alright!?"

"Calm down kid." Soro raised a hand calmly, "she's a bit banged up from her mission, but she's fine other than…" Soro hesitated for a moment before he pointed behind him, "perhaps it's best if she told you herself."

Toshinori and Izuku looked at each other before nodding and turning back to the doctor.

"Right, follow me this way please."

He turned and the two walked a couple steps behind, Eri taking hold of Izuku's hand as they walked.

"Tell me the rest of your findings back at school." Toshinori whispered to his young charge, "for now let's focus on young Uraraka, shall we?"

Izuku nodded briskly, and when he felt Eri squeeze his hand he looked down with a smile and squeezed back.

But still, the seed in his gut grew, little by little, as they walked down the hall to her room.

* * *

Ochako stared up at the lemon cream colored spackle of the ceiling of her hospital room, laying down heavily on the events that transpired.

 _Heavily_.

That word made her cringe at the mere feeling of it. For such a bubbly bright girl, she never felt so grounded in the worst way possible.

 _"Ochako-chan - what's -!"_

 _"Urarara!"_

The echoes of Tsuyu and Nejire-senpai sudden cries made her grip the thin blanket in in frustration and anxiety. But despite grabbing it fully, it stayed covering her.

Her Quirk was gone.

Could she be a hero without a Quirk? Would they even accept her now? What would her parents think? They had such hopes for her, and now she might not even make her goal a reality. Oh god, what would _DEKU_ think?!

She sat up to curl her head between her knees and scream in grief, but the room's door unlatched and opened. Her head shot up to see an all too familiar green bush of hair followed by an almost as messy blond broom head.

"D-Deku-kun? All Might-sensei?" she called, perplexed, but suddenly felt a thump to her side, finding an newly iconic white haired girl with a single horn. "E-Eri-chan?! What are you doing here?"

"We came to see you as soon as we heard you were brought in." All Might said calmly. "Young Eri was quite adamant on coming as well."

The said adamant one was currently burying her face into Ochako's side. The brunette heroine-in-training smiled gently and rubbed Eri's head, noticing that the child flinched on contact.

"How are you feeling, Uraraka-san?" Izuku asked, and just looking into his deep green eyes made Ochako fill with dread at his reaction. It took her a moment to collect herself, clutching Eri closer before speaking.

"I feel empty inside, like a piece of me was torn out…" she spoke barely above a whisper. "I…I can't feel or use my Quirk at all…"

Both wielders of One for All froze as a spine chilling bolt flashed through them. "You mean like someone stole it?" Izuku asked breathlessly.

 _'Could that madman have passed on his Quirk to Shigaraki?!'_ Toshinori felt like his right lung was about to collapse. "Young Uraraka, did anyone physically touch you before your Quirk disappeared?" he asked hotly, the burning pain in his side flaring more than anything Endeavor had.

"Eh?!" Ochako flinched at the duo's terrified expressions, she didn't notice the mild whimper of the girl in her arms. "N-no, I don't think so. It was up until the air when I just…" she paused, disbelief at the recurring scene played in her mind. "- started falling."

A moment passed in silence, before Izuku spoke up. "Do…do you think you can tell us?"

Ochako looked in his eyes, concern flaring in them. She looked back to Eri, her red eyes watering. Brushing some of the girl's hair behind her ear, she gave a light smile. "Okay, so it was like this…"

"Ryukyu-san was having Nejire-senpai, Tsuyu-chan, and I on patrol, and we found two street gangs fighting. It wasn't too bad until they injected themselves with some dark liquid, and suddenly their Quirks went haywire!"

 _'That sounds similar to the Trigger case Naomasa told me about five years ago…'_ Toshinori thought, still listening.

"Two of them had giant-like Quirks and grew up to the size of skyscrapers. Nejire-senpai was able to stop them and Tsuyu and I were able to work on our combination attack, but after both of the big guys were gone, I suddenly felt myself falling to the ground…" she stopped and shuddered. "If Tsuyu and Nejire-senpai hadn't caught me…"

The story halted at the mewling of the child in the room.

"Eri-chan?" Ochako reached out a hand to rub the child's shoulder as she started to shake. "Eri-chan is everything okay-?"

The girl only dug her face into Ochako's shirt with a choked sob, refusing to say a word.

Izuku looked between the two worryingly, reaching a hand to try and calm Eri down, but she only flinched away as the tip of his finger brushed her back. He sighed and looked back at Uraraka. "Can you remember anything else?" Izuku asked, at a loss, "anything from just before you started falling?"

Ochako wrapped her hands around the shaking girl on her lap, biting her lower lip as she shifted through her recollection of the fight."Maybe…just as we were about to cuff the two fighting, I could feel…" She reached one hand to touch the back of one of her shoulders, "something hitting me…right here." She tapped her shoulder for emphasis, "something…like a dart or a needle." She shook her head, "I thought it was just some debris hitting me but…maybe…"

She was stopped again, this time by a startlingly loud sob tearing out of Eri, the girl tightening her hold on the older girl as she soaked her hospital shirt with her tears.

* * *

"Eri-chan!?" Ochako panicked and tried to get the girl to look at her, "Eri-chan what's wrong!?"

"I'm sorry!" Eri shouted of a sudden, whipping her head up to look at Ochako, her cheeks soaked in tears and face red and twisted in sorrow, "this-it's all my fault!" She dug her face back into Ochako's chest, trembling and crying. "They did this because of me!"

"They?" Ochako shook her head, gripping Eri's shoulders more firmly so she can pull her back and face her properly, "Eri-chan what are talking abou-"

"OCHAKO-CHAN!"

"URARAKA-KUN!"

The door burst open without warning, bring the ones shouting into view; a rather frazzled Tenya, and a near terrified looking Mina, who rushed over to her bedside with little regard for present company.

"URARAKA-KUN ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"

"THE DOC SAID SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR QUIRK OCHAKO-CHAN WHAT HAPPENED!?"

"Guys?" Ochako mumbled, flat footed at the sight of her two panicked friends, "Guys relax I'm-"

Before she could continue, the door burst open again, with the rest of her class (with the exception of Bakugou, obviously, and Kririshima, which was actually rather odd) following suit, equally as frazzled and, more importantly, loud as the first two, crowding around her bed and throwing out so many questions she could only hold on to the crying Eri as she tried to calm them down and get them to be quiet.

Just then one more person entered the room and did it for her. Shouta Aizawa took a grand total of two heavy steps before breathing in shooting out his scarf in all directions, silencing every single student who barged inside. "Were you all raised in a farm house?" He ground out from between his teeth, one eye twitching and making all the trapped students gulp, "you are all in a **_hospital,_** the next one of you to cause a damn racket gets detention for the rest of the school year."

They all nodded quickly and without a sound, and their teacher removed the binding so they could all stand in order. "Now," he said after a short and calming breath, "you're all going to come with me, and return to school, before you cause Uraraka any undue stress." A few students, namely Mina and Denki opened their mouth to protest, only for Eraserhead to turn to them with a sharp look. **"No** arguing." He pointed to the, still crying, child in Ochako's arms, "or do you not care about **her?"**

They clamped up quick after that.

"Now come on." Aizawa made a sharp nod towards the door, and the class soon sulked off one at a time, offering a quick apology to Ochako and Eri before they did, leaving only Eri, Izuku, and All Might in the room, the last of which Aizawa turned to, tone all business, "All Might."

Toshinori fixed his tie as he removed himself from the wall the students pushed him into in their haste, glancing at his fellow teacher, "Yes, Aizawa-kun?"

"Come with me." He said plainly, pointing to where the students gathered outside the door. "I need you to help me corral these crazy kids before they cause anymore trouble here."

Something in Aizawa's focused stare made Toshinori pause for a moment, before nodding briskly. "Yes, yes of course." He turned to Izuku, "young Midoriya, I need you to stay here with these two." He pointed to Ochako and the still shaking Eri, "see if you can calm things down here."

Izuku, glanced at Eri briefly, before nodding at his mentor, eyes firm. "Of course All Might."

"I'll be back soon enough, so wait until I do."

With that the two teachers left the room, closing the door as they did.

Izuku sighed as he looked at Ochako. "Well…that was…something."

Ochako laughed a bit nervously, "good to know they care about me this much…" The sound of muffled sniffling brought her attention back to Eri, who had been holding her in a vice grip while all that was going on. "Now…what to do about this…"

"Eri-chan…" Izuku came close again, pulling up a chair so he could sit by Ochako's bedside, putting an arm on Eri's head. "Eri-chan this wasn't your fault."

"Yes it is!" Eri shouted, voice muffled against Ochako's shirt, "I ran away and they hurt Ochako-san! They hurt her because of me!"

"They?" Izuku asked, rubbing his forehead, frustrated that he couldn't understand what she was saying, "Eri-chan you keep saying they, who are you talking-"

Suddenly it clicked, some horrible stone dropped on Deku's head and brought with it a terrifying thought, to awful to contemplate but too plausible to ignore.

"Deku-kun?" Ochako asked, the looking of mounting horror on his face digging a pit in her gut, "Deku-kun what's-"

"Uraraka-san," Izuku muttered, voice dry and trembling, "do you remember anything particular about the criminals you fought with Tsuyu-chan and Hadou-senpai?"

"Particular?" Ochako mumbled, unsure of what he meant, she rubbed the top of Eri's head as she thought back again on what brought her here, "well, they both seemed like a couple of meatheads, rugged clothes and all that…though one of them was wearing a-" A lump stuck itself in Ochako's throat, the same look of terror that dominated Izuku's features appearing on her own, "a…a _bird_ mask."

The two looked at each other, mirrored looks of fear in their eyes. The hospital room was silent except for the steady beeping of the heartbeat monitor, punctuating the sudden tension in the air.

Only Eri broke that silence with a single wet "I'm sorry" before digging herself back into her broken embrace of Ochako, refusing to say anymore.

* * *

"This is becoming more and more of a problem…"

Toshinori looked over to Aizawa as the shorter man slumped onto the wall in the lobby, the students forced onto the closest bus headed for UA. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"All of _this…"_ he growled out. "The reporters on UA's doorstep like the rabid dogs they are so quickly after Kamino, parents worried about the responsibility we're burdened with, and now this… pseudo-eraser has stepped into my own classroom." Shouta rubbed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Toshinori blinked. Aizawa knew Young Uraraka lost her Quirk?

"Don't be so surprised. At least twelve separate cases of Quirks suddenly stopping - especially when Mutation types jam - catches my attention. Each incident involved a rescue which suddenly got worse after a Quirk disappeared. And now at the center of all of this is that girl, if I had to guess. And the Problem Child just dragged us all into it." The sleep deprived man seethed as he pressed his brow into the wall.

The true #1 hero sagged slightly. "The issue would have been brought up with the other pros sooner or later, Aizawa-kun." Toshinori shrugged with a wry smile on his face. "Midoriya-shounen did what I would have done in the situation."

Shouta rolled his head to the side to glare at the taller man. "One, talk like that is what fuels the rumors Todoroki has running through his head - and yes I've also been part of those with the Shinsou kid in GenEd."

"So you have your ow- GKK!" Toshinori started before his arms were bound to his side by the capture scarf.

 ** _"Don't."_** Aizawa cut him off. "And two, this will be the fifth public fiasco this year involving him, indirectly or not. Not even you has that much presence, a shock in itself."

Toshinori chuckled beside himself as the bindings loosened. "I know! But that's what makes him a natural hero." he seized a moment as a drop of blood ran down his lip, before his face went somber. "Heroes would have been brought in eventually."

"They're still kids, damn it. I still would have liked a bit of warning before the gates burst open."

"When have we ever gotten any warnings?"

Before Aizawa could respond, the sound of ambulance sirens echoed from outside. Looking out, they saw paramedics wheeling in a gurney with a cream colored cape on it followed be a large round man in an orange hooded tracksuit and the unmistakable red dyed hair of their interning student.

"You were saying, All Might?"

* * *

It took every single inch of self restraint Chisaki Kai had to not strangle his esteemed guest as he flopped onto the couch and placed his (flithy _flithy **flithy**_ ) shoes on his table.

Usually he was better about controlling his temper, but the various set backs he had suffered had taken their toll, regardless he took a deep breath through the nose and leveled a calm stare at Shigaraki.

"Didn't anyone teach you to never put your feet on the table?"

"Didn't anyone teach you not to pull your guests leg by dragging them through a maze after inviting them for a visit?" The younger man shot back, slouching into the couch with little care, "speaking of the table though, I'm noticing a glaring lack of a head of a certain green haired brat."

"Goodness' sake Shigaraki," Overhaul put on a dramatic air, voice dry. "I never had you pegged for such a barbarian." He shrugged easily. "If I had known you were serious about that request, I would have perhaps put more effort into acquiring it for you."

"Don't think you needed the extra motivation." Shigaraki rasped out a laugh. "Considering he's made a fool of you a few days ago."

"And I repaid in kind." Overhaul shot back sharply, eyes narrowing. "He stole something from me and I stole something from him," He spread his palms and spoke in a patronizing tone, "you'll see that all things come up even eventually in this business once you've been in it long enough."

"You sent one of your brain-dead minions to smash up a house and grab a middle aged woman in the middle of the day." Tomura spat, ignoring and unmoved by the yakuza's attempted lesson. "Don't make it sound like you did anything impressive, you piece of shit."

One of Overhaul's eyebrows climbed a few inches up his face, "speaking of her," he intoned quietly, ignoring the insult and noting the way the young man twitched slightly for later, "if you're so insistent on having a severed head on the table, I'm sure I can arrange for the mother to replace the son."

"Don't bother." Shigaraki hissed out, voice unnaturally flat. "It'd be a waste of our time, I was kidding about being more open to compromise." He narrowed his eyes over the hand attached to his face. "You killed Magne."

Chisaki leaned back, eyes calm and quiet. "And you killed one of mine in return, we're even on that front remember?"

"Like hell." Tomura ground the words between his teeth. "You killed one of my top fighters, and I killed one of a hundred dozen nobodiesthat seem eager to throw their lives away for you." He leaned forward. "You don't even remember their name."

"A capo does not concern himself with every rank and file grunt."

Shigaraki leaned back with a scoff, looking away. "Fine, then there's what ever the hell you did to Compress." He looked back at the yakuza. "You took away his quirk."

"No I didn't." Chisaki snapped his fingers, and a door opened behind him to allow one nondescript man carrying a tray with a small metal box. He placed the box on the table before bowing deeply at the waist and holding that position until Chisaki dismissed him. "What took away his quirk, temporarily I assure you, was this."

He opened the box to reveal several capsules filled with a dark red liquid, the very air around the box chilling and stilling as it opened.

"…the hell is this?"

"A work in progress." Chisaki declared blandly, "you may have heard of similar cases of quirks stopping in the middle of a rescue or a drug bust, these are the reason why." Chisaki took one capsule out and held it up for scrutiny. "For the past couple of months I and my organization have been selling this material in various states of potency to some…up and coming individuals in order to test it's effects, and only recently have those efforts begun to bare fruit."

"A quirk nullifying drug?" Shigaraki muttered, scratching his neck. "What, like the opposite of Trigger? You guys responsible for that too?"

"It is one of the products we sell for the proposes of a steady income." Chisaki replied easily. "But this, this is a culmination of months and years of careful research and experimentation in order to serve a much larger end goal."

"Which is?"

"Same as yours." Chisaki spoke with conviction. "The complete upheaval of the currant state of affairs, the nullification of the power heroes hold by ripping that power right out of their hands." Something grew sharp and baleful in his eyes. "After all, we all saw what remained of the ever powerful All Might when his quirk failed him, so what do you think would happen to the rest of the bastards?"

The mention of All Might made Shigaraki clench his teeth, but he held back still, having caught on to something Chisaki tried to hide behind his grand speech. "But still…just a work in progress?" He sniffed imperiously, "you talked yourself up pretty damn well the last time, making it sound like you were ready to grab the world by the throat…when you don't even have a finished product?"

Chisaki narrowed his eyes and made a displeased sound in the back of his throat. "We have…run into some complications as of late."

For all that could be said of Tomura Shigaraki's impulsiveness and short temper, he was quite the quick thinker. "The girl." He muttered with a satisfied chuckle. "No wonder you sounded like you wanted to rip his head off, that girl really is critical to this whole operation isn't she?"

Chisaki glared for another second before sighing deeply, "fine, I was planning on letting you in on the matter at a later date, but no point in hiding it any longer." He swirled the liquid in the capsule. "Eri's DNA, her Plus Alpha factor, is the prime ingredient, the raw material compound, and it is very nearly finished."

"But then the girl slipped through your fingers before you could finish it."

Chisaki's eyebrow twitched. "Yes. Yes she did."

"So you bring up a plan that involves me coming under your influence while you barely have even half a plan?" Shigaraki growled. "If you wanted to insult me, calling me an asshole would have saved us a lot of time."

"The plan is sound Shigaraki."

"Oh really? Because last I checked, that girl being in UA custody is a pretty huge problem."

"A problem that will resolve it self by the end of the week." Chisaki muttered coolly, "you can be sure of that."

Shigaraki scoffed, "oh right, the whole kidnapping for ransom thing…though to be honest that was something that I rather approve of." Shigaraki smiled wide and crooked under the hand on his face. "I wonder what the promising hero will do, will he choose his love for his own flesh and blood, thus forsaking his so called precious justice…or will he allow someone he loves to be thrown to the pyre as a sacrifice for this rotten world order." He laughed bitterly. "Damn if he does, damned if he doesn't…cracks me the fuck up."

"He will choose wisely, have no doubt of that." Chisaki put the capsule back in the box and closed it. "And if he is having trouble deciding, I've sent one of my men to acquire additional…" His voice was a splash of cold bleach on the skin. "Leverage."

"That doesn't concern me." Shigaraki waved him off easily. "I'm still not hearing you saying anything that actually makes me want to joinyou."

"Because I know enough about you and yours to know that we strive towards the same goal." Shigaraki's eyes flashed dangerously. "Calm yourself, I doubt I have you full history, but there's enough rumors to piece together the general picture." Chisaki spread his arms wide. "Your life, whatever it was, was sundered from you from an early age due to circumstances you could not control…and the world didn't care."

Shigaraki tensed. Chisaki smirked under his mask.

"People lived their lives as normal, the news came on as normal…and heroes, All Might, saved people with a smile as normal because that's how it works in this world." Shigaraki was utterly silent, a statue on the couch. "You wish to make the world pay for it has taken from you, and for daring to think it's any better than it actually is, you wish to tear down heroes from their lofty pedestals and watch them crumble and die, so that people know their true nature."

Shigaraki clenched his fists on the couch, one finger still carefully lifted, but dropping down.

"Join me, Shigaraki Tomura, and together we will yank the rug from under the world's feet." His eyes grew sharp and acidic. "And watch it fall down a cliff."

Silence.

"…what do you need from me?"

"First off, manpower." Chisaki leaned back, voice satisfied and proud, the canary that got the cat. "I have a play coming up that requires additional staff."

"…what do you have in mind?"

Chisaki Kai allowed himself an indulgent grin under the mask.

* * *

Eri felt the slick raw texture of asphalt under her feet as she ran from whatever was chasing her.

The alley was cold and damp from rain the night before, but she had to get away.

 _"Eeeriiiiiiiii"_

She froze at the impassive echo from the darkness. No. Not now. She was so close -

 _"Eeeeriiiiiiiii"_

She forced her legs to move as she bolted around a corner. Slow steps ground the chunks of slate pebbling the way closer. And closer.

And closer.

A shadow appeared in front of her, arms raised. Eri flinched and in a flash of light, the shadow fell, leaving only fabric behind.

"Pa…pa?" Eri breathed, eyes wide at the clothes in front of her. A clatter of ceramic was heard and Eri saw a woman standing in fear. "Mama?"

The woman turned and ran, and Eri forgot about whatever was chasing her went after the woman.

"Mama! Mama, please!" she cried out as the woman turned a corner. Eri tried to follow, but slipped in a puddle, falling to the ground. Shivering in the water, she looked up to see an empty road.

A fluttering of wings nearly made her bolt again, the cars and croons behind her, but something made her turn.

Another man, sharply dressed with his head in shadows, standing down the road. In between them, a murder of crows huddled around something.

She wanted to run, everything within her screamed it, but the man… he was pulling her to the birds.

Her light steps tried to resist, but as she drew closer, she saw it.

Pink and Green.

The crows stopped flapping, and looked to her. A scream choked her throat as they stared at her, blank, soulless eyes, carrion and sinew dangling from their serrated beaks.

As one, they all took flight, leaving Eri to the horror before her.

The wounds were fresh, and they dug into her as she collapsed in front of them.

"Mama…" she whimpered at the short brown hair that frayed at the retained scalp.

Stoic footfalls paddled the street.

"Papa…" she choked out, seeing the torn freckled skin limply placed on a green nest.

"A powerful ability, dear child…"

Eri flinched at the voice in front of her. The dressed man stood over the two that were so kind. His face was still in shadows.

"But you don't truly know what you are… what you can truly do…"

Eri looked at him, dry tears welling in her eyes, when she heard larger wings flap behind her. Quickly turning gave her little to see as everything blotted out, a white gloved talon reached out at her.

 **"YoU CuRsEd UnWaNtEd ChIlD!"**

Eri screamed as everything disappeared.

She bolted awake in Ochako's arms, still screaming.

"Eri-chan! Eri-chan, what's wrong?!" Ochako panicked as Eri clung ever tighter.

"I'm sorry, Mama! I'm sorry I made Papa disappear!" Fat tears stained the hospital gown as the little girl cried. "Please don't send me away to the bird people!"

Ochako flinched at the request, before turning desperately to Izuku, gaping at Eri as she wailed. He looked to Ochako, both faces mirroring each other, before the brunette nodded warily, a bit stiff from the shock.

Izuku nodded as well, his nerves flaring like his Quirk, before he laid his hand gently on Eri's back, cursing Overhaul as she flinched at his touch.

"Eri-chan…" he whispered as calming as he could. "I'm right here, Eri-chan. I'm not going anywhere."

The silver-haired child didn't move at first, but slowly she peered behind herself to look at him. "…Papa…?"

Izuku felt his heart clench as he gazed at Eri. He knew those eyes well, although even he had them for a fraction of time. "Yes, Eri-chan. Papa's here." The word felt so foreign and raw to him as he said it, but the glimmer of light in her eyes he saw before she latched on to him made it feel right. "It's okay, it's okay… everything is going to be all right…"

"Because you're here…" he heard her mutter.

"Yeah…"

* * *

The girl slowly closed her eyes again, going limp against Izuku, her breathing eased and her cheeks wet.

Ochako leaned back on her pillow with a weary sigh, "that was…" She shook her head in dismay. "Poor Eri-chan…"

"These past few days haven't been easy on anyone," Deku muttered, rubbing the little girl's back in soothing circles, "but especially hard on her…she's reaching her limit." He bit his lower lip, panic swimming in his gut. "If things keep escalating like this she might-"

"Deku." Ochako spoke up quickly, cutting off the train of thought before it could derail. "Thinking like that won't help anyone." She looked down at her hands, spying the pink pads at her finger tips before curling up her fists. "This is exactly what they want, to hurt her, and us, until we can't put up a fight anymore."

Deku gaped at her in amazement, at a loss for words.

"Eri needs you to keep strong…for all of us to keep strong." She managed a small yet resolute smile. "We just need to keep our heads cool…I may have lost my quirk…but maybe that's a clue?" She pursed her lips. "Considering how Eri was convinced it was her fault this had happened-"

"-Than that means it might actually have something to do with her." Izuku finished, mouth going dry in realization. "That's…that's what they were doing with her quirk!" He slapped his hand to his forehead. "No wonder Overhaul wants her, this…this could change everything if it gets out of control."

"But still, how?" Ochako shook her head. "We got a piece or two, but there's still too many missing." Her face fell, "and I won't be able to help put it together."

"Maybe you will…"

Ochako startled, "huh?"

"I've been seeing a few hero blogs going on about rescues and drug busts going sour because a hero's quirk suddenly…stopped working." He pinched his lower lip as he went on. "But the heroes in question always came back to the spot light a short while after those posts went public, so I just thought they were baiting for attention…but what if they're true? What if the quirks did stop working and then came back after time passed? What if-"

"Deku."

"Sorry!" He shook his head to untangle himself from his mumble storm before looking directly at her. "Maybe those times were caused by the same people? Or the same reason you can't use your quirk?"

Ochako looked back to her hands, trying to feel the tingle of her quirk in her fingertips, a spark of hope in her heart "So…it might come back?"

He shrugged a little helplessly, "maybe? Those reports were weeks and months ago…" He sighed. "Still, there's a chance?" He frowned when she only looked back down to her hands, closing her fists. "…"I'm sorry."

A quiet moment passed between them, Eri quietly snoozing in Izuku's arms, before Ochako raised her hands and slapped her face from both sides, flinching him out of his quiet stupor. "A hero fights no matter the odds." She said from between her palms, her eyes hidden from sight. "Right?"

Izuku felt his face flush in surprise but was quick to catch himself, "r-right! No matter the odds!" His face hardened in resolution. "I might be able to even those odds." He reached behind him to pull a few notebooks out of his backpack. "Today wasn't without some upside."

Ochako blinked for a moment before her eyes widened as she remembered. "Your trip to the prison!" She smiled, a gleam of pride for her friend shining through her dejected face. "So you actually managed to get something out of…him?"

Midoriya nodded. "Not much, just a location, but it's enough of a lead to follow and go from there…plus," Izuku hesitated for a moment before sighing, deciding to push his worry aside for a moment, "I also manged to snag a few moments with Stain." Ochako's eyes widened in horror before Izuku put a hand up to calm her. "Nothing happened! In fact he was actually encouraging me, even complimenting me on what I did…"

Ochako let out a sigh, half nerves and half mirth, "well, someone like Stain would get a kick out of the Yakuza getting their feathers ruffled." She looked back at Izuku. "He give you a lead too?"

"Sort of." Izuku scratched his chin, "a name of someone who could help, but honestly I don't know if it will pan out…but still," he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "It can't hurt to try, right?"

Ochako smiled and nodded, opening her mouth to continue the conversation when the little lump leaning on Izuku stirred to life, this time with a lethargic yawn instead of a panicked scream. "You okay, Eri-chan?"

The girl wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, nodding and humming quietly, only looking at Ochako from the corner of her eye, face buried against Izuku. "M'sorry."

Izuku's face twisted in worry again, "Eri-chan…"

"This isn't your fault Eri." Ochako whispered quietly, putting a hand on the girl's head, running her fingers through the white hair on her scalp. "No matter what Overhaul, or you nightmares, might say, I will never blame you for this…and neither should you..okay?"

The girl sniffed before slowly turning to Ochako to wrap her arms around the older girl, significantly more calm than when she first entered the room. Ochako placed a feather light kiss to the top of her head before returning the hug.

Izuku pulled up a chair and sank into the seat, relief flooding his system as he smiled at the two girls.

The peaceful moment was shattered by the horrible sound of a stomach growling.

Eri blushed, "sorry…"

Ochako and Izuku laughed calmly, Uravity placing another kiss on the girl's head with smile. "No worries Eri-chan, crying makes me pecking as heck too." She looked at Izuku. "maybe you should take her to the vending machine for a snack? There's one a few rooms down the hall."

"S-sure." Izuku said, getting up from his chair. "You want anything Uraraka-san? Like water, chips maybe?"

Ochako shook her head. "I'm good, not really hungry right now." She looked down at Eri, face contemplating for a moment before she returned to Deku, "take Eri-chan with you? So she can pick whatever she wants."

Izuku's eyebrows rose in confusion, "really? Shouldn't she stay her with you?"

"If anyone comes here…I won't be able to do much of anything to help." Her lip trembled for a second before she exhaled sharply and forced a smile. "She'd be safer walking around with you."

Izuku felt a need to press the issue, but swallowed his protests when he caught the full weight of Ochako's expression, nodding numbly. "Okay Uraraka-san." He gently grabbed Eri's shoulder to get her attention on him and greeted her with a smile, "c'mon Eri-chan, let's get you a snack, whatever you want."

Eri was silent, biting her lower lip and looking up at Ochako again from the corner of her eye, "umm…"

"It's alright Eri-chan." Ochako smiled. "I'll be right here when you get back."

Eri took in a breath before fully meeting Ochako's eyes, "…promise?"

Ochako held up a pinky and intertwined it with the little girl's, "promise."

Eri looked at their connected fingers, her face growing slightly more confident at the sight of both it and the gravity heroines smile, nodding quickly before nudging herself off the bed to stand next to Izuku.

"We'll be right back." Izuku smiled at Ochako, "you just rest, I will find a way to fix this, I swear."

"I know." She said, utterly confident in her friend, not a trace of sadness in her eyes as she locked gazes with him. "Your 'Deku' is the kind that can do anything, right?"

Izuku flushed slightly at the memory, grinning bashfully as he led Eri out of the room, his voice growing fainter as they exited the door and moved down the hallway. The last thing she could catch was Izuku asking Eri what she wanted from the machine.

'He's a real natural with her…' She thought fondly with a subdued giggle. 'No wonder she called him Papa…wait, who would be 'Mama then?' She rolled that particular thought in her head just barely long enough for it to make her face burn before she shook it out of her mind as furiously as she could.

The sound of the door creaking open stopped whatever other thoughts she had kicking in her head.

"Deku? I told you I'm not-" Her voice caught in her throat at the sight of the person at the door, skin feeling clammy as they simply…stood there without a word. "W-who are you?"

The door silently slid closed again, the lock clicking softly soon after. A doctor and two nurses passed it without a second thought.

No distress call would come from that room.

* * *

Izuku felt his mind buzz with information. The new possibilities of Eri's Quirk being some kind of negation ability made some sense, but parts of it didn't add up.

The said girl held his hand tightly, staring up at him as he muttered. The bright hallways were bare, with only a few people walking around, the slightest noise made her flinch, the beeping of machines echoed in her mind, but she still grasped firmly. As long as he was here, she would be alright.

The cafeteria was thankfully on the same floor, and Izuku could hear someone calling him. Only when he felt Eri's hand tighten in his and she tried to move behind his leg did he actually look.

"Izuku!" The voice of an ashy blonde said. "How are ya holding up?"

"Mrs. Bakugou-!?" He stammered in surprise, noticing her husband beside her in a wheelchair, a medical gown not hiding the thick wrappings on his torso. "Mr. Bakugou?! You're up?!"

"Ugh, you still haven't gotten it yet." Mitsuki groaned in exasperation, nursing the bandaged would on her forehead and temple. "It's Aunt Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru to you, kiddo."

"R-right…" Izuku muttered, his hand being pulled feverishly by the little girl behind him. "Eri-chan?"

"I-i-i-it's Bakugou-san…" she whimpered, shaking. Izuku inwardly groaned. Mitsuki's appearance was a near carbon copy of her son's. He was about to say something when he was beaten to it.

"From your reaction, little girl, you must have met our son…" Masaru said. It was dry, quiet, and strained for breath. "I'm sorry you had to see him in his natural state like that."

Eri peeked out from behind Izuku, looking at the couple. Masaru's eyes were gentle and tired, and Mitsuki's were stern but kind. None of the rage and scorn the other Bakugou had. Slowly, she came out of hiding behind Izuku. "I'm sorry…"

Mitsuki crouched down and pat her head, noticing her twitch. The bandages on her arms and legs also set warnings off in her head. "Did that no-good brat of mine hurt you?" she asked, idly running her thumbnail along the ridges of the girl's horn. The child shook her head in an eerily familiar way as the boy holding her.

"N-no, he didn't." Eri stated, her voice raising a bit. "Papa stopped him, but he did scare me…"

Izuku choked on his scream at her words, remembering minutes earlier what he said with Ochako in the same room. He only hoped Mitsuki didn't pick up on that -

"And where's your papa now?"

…oh no…

"Papa's here," she waved her arm in Izuku's limp grasp. "And as long as he's here, everything will be all right."

'I really have no luck, do I?' Izuku sighed in his head, but a lingering of prideful happiness filled his chest.

Mitsuki cackled as she stood upright, though she clutched a nearby table for balance, while Masaru chuckled as well. "Damn!" Mitsuki grinned as she caught her breath. "I should have figured Inko would be a grandma before me. The brat really is useless."

Izuku felt that happiness wither quickly at the pangs. "W-wait - hold on now, Kacchan isn-"

"Izuku." Masaru halted the apology by proxy. "We have our own regret not saving your mother when we could…" he clutched his hands. "I tried to blind the guy by getting in close and busted the lenses on his mask with my Quirk… it almost worked while Mitsuki was able to slip Inko out with hers."

'That's right!' Izuku rambled in his head. 'Combustion and Glycerin, simple ones that might not be much, but together, a potent combo!'

~ Bakugou Masaru - Quirk: Combustion - by building up friction and heat in his hands, he can release the energy in a controlled burst! It's only strong enough to break through composites like plastic and glass at a maximum thickness of 5.6cm.~

~Bakugou Mitsuki - Quirk: Glycerin - the pores on her skin secrete a soap residual substance. Gross yet sterile, but she saves money on skin care! Like her son, she can build up a film of glycerin that can make it easier to slip objects from tight spaces.~

"But we were both too slow…" Masaru continued. "As soon as he felt Inko out of her grasp, the man slammed his arm into the street, the shock wave hit them hard. He backhanded me hard and sent me flying." He tapered his fingers over the cast torso. "Snapped some ribs, but the asphalt grinding and tearing my back was worse…" he dryly chuckled. "Still not as bad as that sequin scale yukata at fashion week."

"That dumbass actually used scrap razors for the sequins." Mitsuki snarled at the memory. "Hell of a lawsuit."

"And that still doesn't beat my wife in the bedroom." Masaru chided plainly, a small smile at the choking expression of said wife as she blushed, to say nothing of Izuku's crimson face.

"Papa, what does that mean?" Eri asked innocently.

"OHHEYLOOKTHERE'STHEVENDINGMACHINETHEYHAVE APPLESLICES." Izuku panicked and picked up Eri and rushed over from the embarrassing conversation.

"He took it well." Masaru chuckled.

"You cheeky perv." Mitsuki grinned as she rested a hand at the base of his neck. "Trying to corrupt the good one of the two."

"Love, you did worse to our own son, and we know he's a lost cause for dating." He rested his head on her forearm. "If I can do anything right now, it might as well be helping out the better of our boys." A toothy if pained smile crossed his face. "And after this blows over… we get a chance to spoil our joint-granddaughter."

Mitsuki blushed slightly, and a wild smile followed as she kissed her husband. "Inko is gonna take that as a challenge…"

—

Izuku sighed as he followed Eri down the hall, her arms full of personal apple pie packages and a small strawberry mochi from a different machine. She wanted to return quickly to 'Mama' - as she called Ochako now, and Izuku's face went fully red gain - and share. He made sure to keep her at most arm's length, as she wanted to carry the treats.

"Do you think Mama will enjoy these, Papa?" she asked.

"Yes, Eri-chan," Izuku smiled, still blushing. "I'm sure she will -" he paused as he tried to open the door to her room. The handle was strangely firm in place, no rattle was heard with any growing force. It wasn't locked, but held tight.

"What's wrong, Papa?"

Izuku tried banging on the door, but nothing was heard. A pit of dread bored in his stomach.

"No, no, no, no!" he panicked in disbelief.

"Midoriya, my boy, what's wrong?" the voice of All Might sent a wash of relief in him, but it quickly flushed down the pit.

"Uraraka-san's door is wedged tight." Izuku said, not even looking at his mentor. "I can't open it."

"What's going on here?" Dr. Soro asked, seeing the commotion.

"Hey! Let me go, you -!" They heard Ochako yell through the door, setting everyone on edge.

"Uraraka-san!" Izuku called as he tried to tear off the door handle, only for it to explode out in a large green cluster of stone replaced it. "No!"

"Papa!"

"Midoriya!"

"Xiu Wi!" Soro yelled over the panic, and a hulking dark-furred paramedic appeared from an adjacent hall. Without further prompting, Xiu Wi roared as he gripped the door frame and cleanly tore it from the wall.

But suddenly, he froze, and Izuku could see an arrow retracting from the medic's chest inside the room. He dashed past him, and One for All froze like ice in his veins.

An unmistakable portal was seen at the other end of the room, the black mist swirling like corrupt star dust. Two men were in the room, one wearing a white hooded doctor's coat with his back to them, another a tall man with a surgical face mask on, with the limp form of Ochako dangling from his shoulder.

"MAMA!"

Izuku tried to force One for All to make him move, but only his eyes could gaze at Eri following him in, the pure panic in her eyes.

The hooded man's head jerked, before it calmly turned, showcasing the ornate plague mask, goggles only just relieving the possibility of Chisaki, but still, an underling.

"Ah, Eri. There you are." He said fully viewing them.

"Eri-chan, get back to All Might, now!" Izuku yelled. But Eri was just as frozen, even more so with the recognition in her eyes. He was about react when he felt an arrow strike his stomach.

"Now, now, we can't have that can we?" The man said, two arrow styled locks of hair retracting back into his hood. He must have struck her as well. "The boss has been worried for you, Eri. All of this could have been avoided."

Izuku swore in his head with everything he had heard from Kacchan's mouth. He could still move, but it was like swimming in hardening concrete. It was barely a budge. The masked man walked over at a normal rate, so it would seem that his Quirk effects the neural muscle reaction speed of those hit. Was there a time limit like with Stain's Bloodcurdle? He needed to get out now, especially when the guy was getting too close to Eri!

"It's sad, really." The man said, grabbing Eri and carrying her like a sack of flour. "You heroes always get mixed up in business that doesn't concern you…" he slowly walked to the portal, the one holding Ochako halfway in. "It is fun though, seeing everyone panic at losing what makes them special."

One for All started burning again. Izuku felt his tendons screaming out.

"Get -"

Eri's eyes shimmered through the tears as she heard Izuku's voice.

"Your -"

Black energy pooled around Izuku's arms along with the lightning coursing through his skin as he reared his arms back.

"Hands -"

Chronostasis was surprised to hear and fully comprehend the source of Chisaki's ire, and was turning to face him when he felt Eri pulled away from him, the corner of his eye viewing the girl wrapped in black tendrils while the rest of his vision was blocked by a teenage fist.

"OFF OF ERI-CHAN!" Izuku roared as he felt the leather of the mask tear beneath his knuckles, desperately wanting to break bone as retaliation. The hooded man was sent flying into the other as the portal held, then dispersed. "NO!" Izuku collapsed on the floor, raw tears and hot spittle escaping his face. He slammed his fist in frustration. He should have expected this. He shouldn't have left Ochako alone, not until she was safe!

"P-papa?" A quiet voiced mewled. Izuku turned to the bed, seeing Eri huddled into herself, surrounded by the black energy that was coming from his arms. "It's…" she squeaked, her tears pooling again. "It's m-m-my f-f-fault, this time…" a whine like a broken animal escaped her throat. "Mama was taken because of meeee!"

By instinct, Izuku flexed the tendrils and Eri flew into his arms, giving her the biggest hug he could muster.

"We'll get her back, Eri-chan, her and my mom." Izuku whispered to the broken girl. "It may be hard to believe, but it will be alright."

Eri cried once more into Izuku's shoulder, both near ignorant of the surroundings. When Izuku looked up to All Might and Aizawa, his eyes were tempered. His voice cold.

"Get me to Naruhata. Now."

* * *

And now we wait for the backlash and hype.

Be sure to read and review, you guys!


	6. Speak Ill and Pay Respects

**Yes! Yes! we got another chapter posted in less than a year! HAHAHA!**

 **...Oh, hey there, everyone, Johnny Spectre here with a new chapter, it would have been posted earlier, but Life is frustrating, and I got roped into two other fanfics I'm posting on AO3 under Chapelseed.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Calm.

Silent.

Clean.

Sanitary.

These were the words that flowed through Chisaki's mind as he laid on the couch covered in a sterile plastic sheet. In fact, the entire room of the former Grand Monk's residence was layered out in dust covers and fumigation tarp. The room was vast and open, dimly lit by lanterns and candles surrounding the bound statues in the corners. Effigies of the gods shattered in the past and hastily fixed with poor acknowledgement of their respective forms.

It was… humbling, Chisaki mused. Destroying the facetious past idolatry to ensure the world follows what's necessary.

Now if only that accursed rat didn't take Eri. He needed to use her Quirk to show the world the reality of their incompetence.

A Quirk-free world, without pain, the sickness cleansed.

He almost smiled under his mask. Soon, he'd have everything needed to ensure the rat was clipped out of the picture -

The door slammed open as Chronostasis stumbled into the room, clutching his face as his mask dangled, strangely crushed. Chisaki casually sat up, as Chronostasis stood haggard.

"What happened?" Chisaki asked calmly.

Chronostasis took a moment to format the words, his jaw apparently in pain. "We…we were able to gra-ah!-b the girl. It was easy after the skirmish. The hospital was more focused on the hero that fought one of our clients."

"A necessary distraction."

"Right…" Chronostasis nodded, a slight flinch evident. "We collected her, and we're about to escape when that Midoriya came back. Houjou barricaded the door while I called Kurogiri for the exit. An aide tore the door off, and Midoriya slipped through, but I was able to stop them, but Midoriya was able to break the timing and I lost hold of Eri. He used so-"

Chronostasis was cut off as he felt his lower jaw tear off at Chisaki's touch. He fell to the floor, trying to grasp at the phantom of his mouth, even though he could see it splattered in his peripheral vision. Chisaki still had his arm raised, the fabric of his glove floating daintily, showing the pulsing veins on the back of his hand.

"You mean to tell me…" Chisaki's tone dead even, "you had her in your grasp, the main piece of our operations… and _you lost her!?"_

Chronostasis was still, a stiff nod his only movement.

Chisaki felt his eyes bulge in fury, his teeth grinding as he restrained himself from acting on raw emotions. He was so close, he almost had her where she belonged, and there was absolutely NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT!

The dust under the tarps shifted in the dead wind.

"Clean that up."

Chronostasis looked at his boss, but not in fear, and saw him pointing at the spilled blood and marrow.

" _Clean. That. Up._ " Chisaki repeated evenly.

The second-in-command nodded and shuffled over to pick up his pieces, Chisaki moving stiffly to a different room, open to the canyon and the river below. His fingers twitched on his bare hand, his mind wanting to tear everything down and rebuild it as it needs to be:

Calm.

Silent.

Clean.

Sanitary.

The plague of the world will be cleansed. By any means necessary…

* * *

Izuku should have been in an armored car en route to Naruhata, accompanied by both All Might and Sir Nighteye. He was restless a moment ago, hands wringing in impatience and fear.

Uraraka was snatched from the hospital, right from under his nose, and if he had been even slower he would have lost Eri along with her.

Things moved fast after that, All Might and him hurried back to the school, dragging a sobbing Eri along with them. The girl was inconsolable, wrecked with guilt that she was the cause that her "Mama" had been taken, and refused to leave Deku's side. Seeing her like that made his heart clench painfully. He was a hero wasn't he? He was supposed to be the reason people _stopped_ crying, the reason people felt safe. And yet all he seemed to be able to do was cause this poor girl more and more grief. But he steeled himself against that doubt, he couldn't afford to waste a single moment, as soon as Chisaki calls when the week ends he needs to be ready for _anything._ He needed to have all his bases covered, every option he had open to him _needed_ to be taken.

His mother, Uraraka, he was going to get them _both_ back from that monster, no matter what it took.

He had to leave Eri behind at the school, it seemed to be only safe haven in the country at the moment and Izuku was _not_ going to lose another precious person to Chisaki. Eri, of course, refused to part with him. She literally _clung_ to him as he tried to leave, nearly breaking his heart at the face she made as she begged him not to go, begged him to take her with him, _anything_ except not leave her alone again.

He nearly caved when an unexpected aid came in the form of Nemuri Kayama, who sneaked up on Eri and used her quirk to put the girl into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The teacher gathered the girl in her arms, cradling her as gently as she could before she turned to the amazed Deku with a determined gleam in her eyes, "you are _much_ too young to stand and gape while there's work to be done." She waved him off as she turned to walk away with the girl, "you boys be off and do what you need to do to get those ladies back, I'll make sure this one stays calm and asleep until you get back."

Deku stayed where he stood for a while, watching as Midnight walked away with Eri, the girl nuzzling into the small of the heroine's neck. He watched until Nemuri turned a corner and vanished from sight. He clenched his fists and marched to the armored car with renewed purpose. He was going to find Knuckleduster _and_ Stain's stash of weapons, he wasn't coming back empty handed this time.

But, even with all the excitement and adrenaline that coursed through him throughout today, he felt an odd sense of bone deep exhaustion as soon as he put on his seat belt. "Rest Young Midoriya," All Might said as the car started, "we do not know what we will find in Naruhata when we get there, so it is best you save your strength."

Izuku sighed, and let his head lean back to hit the back rest, intending to make the most of the relatively short ride to their destination he closed his eyes… only to open them a moment later, his body engulfed in obsidian flame.

For a short moment, he panicked, thinking some villain ambushed them when he tried to rest, only to realize the flames did not burn, in fact, they felt… cool on his skin, licking at his form from his toes up to half his face to the ears. He then noticed where he _was_ for the first time, not in the car, but floating in some ethereal abyss, suspended in a void that stretched from one horizon to the next. He _then_ noticed he couldn't really move anything save his eyes, and the panic started to seep in again, but before it could sink in fully, he suddenly saw a figure walking towards him from the shadows of the void.

He was tall, and thin. He seemed rather young, white hair falling in front of his eyes as he walked towards the boy. Dressed in a simple shirt and jeans with faded colors. His steps made no sound, and neither did his clothes rustle on his form as he moved. It was like looking at a ghost.

A ghost that was… rather annoyed at Izuku, if what little he could catch of his expression behind the curtain of bangs meant anything. The figure sighed in exasperation, rubbing his forehead before looking back at Deku, "usually," he started, his voice bouncing between Izuku's ears as he spoke, "being ahead of schedule is a _good_ thing."

Izuku would have liked to ask what the man meant, but the flames reaching up to his mouth made that difficult.

" _This_ on the other hand," the man went on with a wry smile on his face, "is the sort of thing that needs to go at it's own pace, but I guess you never really cared for how things _should_ be, right Izuku?"

The boy's eyes widened, this ghost knows his name?

"There's a lot a need to explain to you." The man continued, "a lot you need to know, a lot you need to _prepare_ for…" He stopped for a moment before sighing, "but now is hardly the time, you have too much on your mind for you to understand everything, too much at stake to risk getting it wrong."

Izuku looked harder at the stranger, something about the shape of his nose and the curve of his chin seeming familiar.

"So, for _now_ , I'm just here to make one thing clear." The man sighed again, "remember what you used to pull the girl away from the yakuza at the hospital?"

Tendrils of pure black smoke, surging around his limbs and leaping with direct purpose to rescue Eri, all his thoughts focused on getting her _away_ and _safe._ In all the confusion he had no time to question it, no time to ponder the implications or stop to think about it.

Hard to forget, to be honest.

"Right, well, to put it simply, don't go counting on it." The ghost explained. "You awakening that power _this early_ was a fluke, a lucky shot born from every inch of your body and spirit screaming out in a united action." The ghost's eyes hardened. "It won't be happening again, at least not for a short while, so whatever plan you have cooking up in that head of yours, don't involve it. Understand?"

Izuku tried nodding, before remembering he couldn't move, so he tried to think and _will_ his answer into the void, he understood perfectly. Any uncertainty would be saved for _after_ his mother and Uraraka were safe and back home.

"Right, now let's get you -"

"HOLD ON A DAMN MINUTE!"

Izuku would have jumped clear out of his skin if he could even budge, the voice booming behind his eyes like a thunder clap, followed closely by another figure appearing from the gloom. He was dressed like a punk biker, leather jacket and goggles atop his bald head and a square, chiseled chin covered in a four-o-clock shadow. His grim face was pulled in wide and toothy grin as he stomped towards the other two, eyes shining in interest.

He looked… funky.

Super Funky.

He went right up to Izuku's face, the grin still stretching his mouth from ear to ear. "You and I ain't gonna meet for a bit kid, but I just _needed_ to come out here and give you some congrats!" His heavy, meaty hand rose and slapped him on the back with all the force of a drunk bull, Deku could feel his teeth shudder from the impact. "You may have pulled that right out of your ass, but I'll be damned if it wasn't one _hell_ of an awesome ass pull!"

" _Ahem."_

The man stiffened before looking back at the first figure, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous chuckle, "uh, yeah, sorry about that Ichirou, I kinda got carried away."

 _Ichirou?_ Why did that name sound so… nostalgic?

"You'll be arriving at Naruhata soon Izuku," Ichiro interrupted Midoriya's thoughts quickly, "so it's time we said farewell for now." The man smiled. "When this has passed, and you rescued your loved ones, I'll tell you everything you need to know, about One For All… and about Rishirou."

Izuku's eyes widened again, but before he could attempt any question, the word swirled and faded around him, spinning in a million colors before his eyes before settling on the form of the interior of the armored car he fell a sleep in, just in time for it to stop at a parking space near a park.

Nighteye unbuckled his seat belt with little ceremony, "we are here."

Izuku quickly moved to unbuckle his own belt, pushing his (dream? vision?) into the back of his head so he could focus.

He had a vigilante to find.

* * *

Naruhata was a rather normal district, the low crime rate due to the local vigilantes coined the Hauler, Pop Step, and Knuckleduster, along with an unknown number of people who either redirected the public or tagged along. It wasn't rare for a hero to pass on through, but rarely did they come through with the notoriety of the iconic duo of All Might and his one-and-only sidekick Sir Nighteye.

Were it a normal situation, Izuku would be both elated to be with his heroes, but nervous at being compared to them, but right now, the Ninth Bearer had a mission.

Asking around proved variably fruitless, though a few shadier characters gave him directions while All Might and Nighteye were drawing most of the attention, and a small part of Izuku took some pleasure in seeing the former sidekick act flustered.

His searching brought them to a fairly dilapidated apartment complex, to which they were told that their quarry was on the top floor. The roof was surprisingly well-maintained, with a small shed next to the single room, possibly for the garden or a collapsed obstacle course, Izuku could figure out after his mother, Uraraka, and Eri-chan were safe.

Rapping his knuckles on the door, he could hear movement inside before it opened, showing a burly if lean man with short dark hair, a strong jawbone, and squinted eyes peering down at him, but what really caught his attention was the man's facial scar. A familiar one he remembered seeing on the news…

"Oh my gosh, you're O'Clock! One of the few natural speedsters outside the Ingenium company! Your hyper-reaction Quirk helped save at least threedozenseparatehostagesituations!It'sapleasureandanhonortomeetyo-"

"Hold it right there, kid." The hero growled out, stopping Izuku's ramblings. "How the hell do you know who I am, how did you find me, and who the hell are you?"

"O'Clock? I haven't heard from you in some time," the blond scarecrow said in surprise.

The former speedster blinked and looked at Toshinori and Nighteye. "All Might? What are you doing here? Who's the kid?"

Toshinori sighed. "We might need your help."

* * *

Ochako's mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Her mind foggy and everything from the neck down felt like it was crushed under a bus.

In a word; she was pissed.

From what little she could tell from her moment of waking, she was on a thin mattress, a bed perhaps, and her wrists bound in what _sounded_ like handcuffs.

She blinked rapidly, everything around her blurry and spinning. She clenched her hands, finding her wrists indeed bound and her hands… covered? She looked to the side and saw that, indeed, her hands were inside of a sort of leather glove with a string near the bottom, fastened so it could not be easily pulled off.

 _'Why would they…?'_ She wondered blearily, _'I can't use my Quirk so why-?'_

"Oi, would you look at that!" A gruff voice sounded from her other side, she started to turn to see it only to nearly yelp in surprised pain when fingers clutched the hair at the top of her hair and _pulled_ her to face the owner of the voice (she could barely hear a gasp somewhere to her left but couldn't focus on it), "good morning sleepin' beauty! So glad to have you join us!"

She glared at the man who was pulling her hair, her eyes widening as she recognized him, a swirl of anger filling her gut, " _you!"_ Her voice was hoarse and rough, it nearly made her cringe at how pathetic it made her sound. "You're-! From the _hospital!"_

"Damn right." The man growled from behind his surgical mask, his eyes shadowed from his large brow and scowl, "and I got a _bone_ to pick with you." He yanked on her hair, Ochako barely biting back another yelp, "that _boyfriend_ of yours has been a goddamned pain in our sides for _way too long."_

Ochako glared at him, knowing what he was implying but refusing to show any fear, "so, you're the Yakuza, huh?" She chuckled quietly, a thrum of satisfaction going through her when she heard the man grind his teeth, "oh good, I have nothing to worry about then." She gave a toothy grin, an image of Izuku doing the same spurring her on, "all I have to do is wait for Deku to burst in here _and kick your butts."_

A vain popped in the man's forehead, he raised a hand to strike her, "you _bitch!"_

"Leave her alone!"

The sudden voice made them both stop and turn to it, Ochako's eyes nearly popped out of her skull at the shock of seeing Midoriya Inko strapped to a bed much like she was, glaring a hole through the yakuza, "what will your _boss_ say when he hears you manhandled a hostage?!"

"He'll commend me for my initiative." The man growled, glaring at the woman, "now _shut your hole!"_ He raised his hand again, clenched in a fist, and crystals started covering his hand, Ochako gritting her teeth for the impact.

Thankfully it never came, two more men rushed from the shadows and managed to restrain the first, pulling him away from her. He turned to one of them, a lanky goon with a long and sharp beak mask, and growled, "let _go_ of me, Setsuno!"

"Not a chance, Hojo!" Setsuno answered, gripping Hojo's right forearm more securely, "the boss is mad enough as it is! You heard what he did to Chrono, right!?" Hojo froze, a grimace twisted his face. "Think how he'll react to you _killing_ a hostage after he just lost Eri again!"

Ochako's eyes widened, a surge of relief mixed with fear going through her. They tried taking Eri back early, but failed. A small smile lit her face as she thought of the only person who could have done such a thing, her heart thrumming happily in her chest.

"Smile all you like, girl." Hissed the third man, head covered by a burlap sack with eye holes. "A week from now it will _all_ end for you." His eyes crawled to stare at Inko, " _all of you."_

Ochako and Inko both glared at the three, Hojo releasing himself from being grappled and stomping his way out of the room. Setsuno shook his head, "quit it, Tabe, these chicks are abnormal." The man with the mask grumbled something before following Hojo out the door, "he's right though, that kid had one hell of a lucky streak, but the moment he steps foot in this place to _save_ you two," his eyes narrowed into slits, "it _ends."_

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and stalked out of the room at the heels of his companions, locking the door behind him.

Inko let out a heavy sigh, rubbing her head while looking at Ochako, "Uraraka-chan? Are you alright? That brute didn't rip anything out did he?"

Ochako chuckled easily, the last of her lethargy leaving her as she shook her head, "I'm fine Midoriya-san, I've had worse then some jerk shouting at me." She winced as the hand cuffs chafed and pinched her skin, "…though this still isn't the best time I've had." She looked up at the older woman with an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, I should be helping to get you out of here, but I got myself captured instead…"

"Don't you start." Inko admonished, pointing at the girl intently, "you getting caught off guard is not your fault, hero training or no, so I won't hear a word of it, understand?"

Ochako blinked at her friend's mother, memories of being scolded by her own mother flashing in her mind as she chuckled nervously, "o-okay Midoriya-san, understood." She opened her mouth to say something else when she caught sight of Inko's left arm, and the cast that covered it. "…your arm -"

"Don't apologize for that either." Inko said kindly, a gentle smile on her face, "I'll have to deal with Izuku doing that when he gets here already, so don't add to that alright?" She and Ochako shared a laugh before Inko went on, "and besides, I already had one person apologize for that happening, which was more then enough."

"Huh?" Ochako stopped short, "someone already - who?"

Before she could continue her question, the dark room was filled with the awful sound of loud, wet coughs. Ochako, alarmed at the sudden sound, raised her head as high as her bound position would allow to see past Inko's bed to the source of the sound.

Inko herself whipped around immediately as the sounds started, leaning towards the bed to her other side, "Nishkiyama-san!" She called out, concerned deep in her tone, "please, deep breaths!"

The person in question, this Nishkiyama, slowly began to gain more control over his coughs, until her manages to take long, deep breaths to calm what spasms remained, "I am fine, Midoriya-san." The person, man, rasped from just beyond Ochako's view, "no need to worry."

"You're getting _worse."_ Inko stressed, her hand clenching her thin blanket and bed covers, "if this keeps up you might -"

"No." He said softly, sternly, before Inko could finish, "Chisaki won't let me die, not like this."

"But he _put_ you here!"

Ochako was _very_ confused, seemingly stuck in the middle of whatever this - _prisoner? Traitor? Another hostage they didn't know about? -_ person was talking about with Deku's mom, but she couldn't find a place to insert a question to request them to clarify.

One thing was clear, Nishkiyama was _very_ sick, and somehow Chisaki was responsible. Ochako's lips curled into a snarl at the thought of that man, and the grief he'd been causing Eri, not to mention Deku and his mother.

She was going to find the man, and slam the cuffs on him herself.

"…Am I hearing someone else here? …another hostage, Midoriya-san?"

The old man's answer startled Ochako from her reverie, "y-yes sir!" She called out, on reflex, louder then she intended so she cleared her throat, "My name is Uraraka Ochako, I'm a first year hero student at UA."

"Nishkiyama Ryoutaro." The old man replied in kind, an amused tilt to his rasp, "no need to be overly formal, Uraraka-san, we're all in the same position in this room, aren't we?"

Ochako gaped for a moment before a quick laugh escaped her, leaving her at a loss, "yes, I suppose so." She looked at Inko once more, an uncertain expression on her face, "Uh, Midoriya-san, why is Nishkiyama-san here?"

Inko opened her mouth, before shutting it and thinking longer on her answer, she looked behind her, "Nishkiyama-san?"

A tired hum sounded from the old man, "please, tell her Midoriya-san, I feel a bit… faint."

Inko worried her lower lip for a moment before sighing, "this is Eri-chan's grandfather, Uraraka-chan." Ochako's jaw dropped, but then Inko went on, "he was also the previous boss of the Eight Precepts." Inko's face twisted slightly, "until Chisaki put him here, for trying to stop him from -" Inko visibly swallowed the bile in her throat, "from using Eri like he did."

Ochako's brows raised in surprised, she didn't expect something like this from a yakuza, much less a _boss._ If Deku was right and Eri's quirk was as powerful as it seemed, a boss could make horrifying use of it, granddaughter or no.

The compassion seemed… odd.

"Not what you expected from a yakuza boss, eh?" Ryotaro said of a sudden, as if he could read Ochako's silence for her reaction, "true, a few decades back, I would have done the same as Chisaki…" He was speaking with less clarity, more like he was talking to himself in a daze rather then explaining himself to the other two, "…but I was a fool then, I did not understand what this life would rip away from me."

Ochako and Inko looked at each other in concern, before silently looking back at the old man, waiting for him to continue.

"Every one I ever loved, family or friend, every dream I ever had that didn't involve money or power… gone, torn from me as the years dragged on." He sounded ready to weep. "My daughter was all I had left…and then she was gone the moment she had the chance…" Something in his voice cracked, "and then… and then she came back, carrying the most beautiful child I had ever seen in her arms."

Ochako could picture it, the shadowed vision of Eri's mother carrying the child, even younger then she was now. It made something in her heart strain to hear it.

"…and she called her a monster." He sounded heartbroken. "It was the last straw, I was the only thing that child had of a family that wanted her, and what kind of life would she lead under the shadow of Yakuza? What nightmares would follow her, terrors of honer and oaths and a thousand things she never asked for."

He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily, Ochako could swear he was holding back his tears ferociously.

He took a breath, "I was ready to walk away." He said, finally, with a sigh, "was willing to let All Might have his victory, to let this whole sordid business die…" He stopped again, his voice turning strained, "but then _Chisaki…"_

He stopped again, not only because he could bare no more, but because his strength seemed to run out, and he fell back into a deep sleep. Ochako could only hope it was a peaceful one as well.

The young heroine's eyes hardened, clenching her fists as she stared up at the cracked ceiling of the room, "I'll get us out of here." She looked aside to Inko with an encouraging smile, "all three of us."

Inko smiled widely at her, though with some doubt in her eyes, "I'm sure dear… but how?" She lifted her unbroken and bound hand while pointing to Ochako's cuffs, "getting these off won't be easy."

Ochako grinned, she wriggled her fingers, "do you see these gloves?"

Inko blinked, "y-yes?"

"Before I was captured, they somehow made my quirk turn off and refuse to work." Ochako started to explain, her expression turning serious, "my quirk lets my nullify gravity on anything I touched, they figured turning it off would make me easy to take I guess." She breathed through her nose to stop her from thinking on how they were right. "I thought it was forever, that this was it for my dreams of being a hero," she looked at Inko with a grateful smile, "but then Deku-kun pointed something out to me."

Inko's mouth gaped, before a proud gleam came to her eye.

"And what he said, along with these gloves, makes one thing clear." She clenched her fists. "My quirk _will_ come back, I don't know when, but it _will_ , and when it does," she grins powerfully, "I'll show those yakuza they made a big mistake."

She thought back to the sports festival, the various rumors she heard after her loss, and her eyes hardened.

"They thought I was _fragile."_

Inko laughed with something between panicked hope and relief, "that's good to hear!" She wiped a tear from one eye and smiled at the girl, "right now though, all I'm hoping for is that today doesn't throw anymore unexpected surprises at us."

Almost on cue, the lock to the entrance loudly opened.

Ochako whipped around to look, and the figure that stepped in nearly made her groan in frustration and dread, " _you again!?"_

"'Chako!" Himiko Toga exclaimed in utter glee, fangs shinning in the cheap florescent lights overhead, red eyes nearly glowing as she approached. "It's so good to see you! How's my bestie doing?"

* * *

Back in Naruhata, the small rooftop apartment was still after a rough explanation of what was going on. O'Clock - or as he insisted they call him, Oguro - groaned in frustration as he processed what was said.

"Unbelievable…" he muttered through his hands.

"It's a lot to take in, but -" Toshinori started.

"Not that!" Oguro snapped, slamming his fist on the kotatsu. "These newbie Yakuza shits are always popping up, riding on the coattails of the past without knowing a damn about what they really were! This Quirk-erasing drug popping up is undoubtedly worse than the Trigger fiasco. What I wanna know is how the hell THIS kid -" he jabbed a finger at Izuku, who flinched slightly, "- got within breathing distance of that ol' sonuvabitch AND managed to get decent information without so much as an unnerving threat!"

All eyes were on Izuku now, who was just processing what was said.

Oguro clashed with All for One as O'Clock, and by the way he's acting, had his own Quirk taken. That would explain the lack of public appearances after the broadcast where he got his scar from, and by his admission to decent information, meant that Rishirou was telling the truth about Yabinshi. So now they had the location and opportunity to act, now they just needed the tools.

Suddenly, the front door opened, showing a lanky adult with black hair strolling in. "We're back, tea-aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" The young man gaped slightly at the collection of people in his home.

"Yo, Koichi." Oguro waved, still glaring at Izuku.

Koichi shivered in surprise and awe at the sight of two legendary Pros in his apartment. He was so shocked he didn't feel the shoes on his back topple him over.

"Fer crying out loud, Haimawari. Take any longer and me and Kazuho are gonna be insulted." A brunette with a ponytail and a medical eyepatch stepped over him, a mousy pinkette following, when they both noticed the company. "Oh, great. What did you do this time, old man?"

"Nothing, Tamao, they came to us." The oldest vigilante stated.

"Oh, really? Was it about the supposed sightings in the area?" Kazuho quipped, lifting up Koichi's head by the jaw with her foot.

"Reluctantly," Nighteye stated, pushing up his glasses to reflect the glinting lights from the streets below, "it's because of Deku's rash impulses that we have to resort to these external measures…"

"What my _former_ sidekick means is that we were told that you may be able to help us with this operation." Toshinori stated, glancing Nighteye's way to see if the jab made contact. "We are aware of your past encounters with Hero-Killer Stain, and he has given Young Midoriya the codes to something that could be helpful."

Koichi scrambled up from his position on the floor, past the cover in the back, and near immediately popped back out in a slightly faded All Might hoodie, face-mask, and protective gear. "Helping those in need, your neighborhood friend, The Crawler, is the guy who does it best!"

Everyone present blinked at the intro. The vigilantes sighed in exasperation, while Toshinori held back a laugh, Nighteye pinched the bridge of his nose, but Izuku had the biggest reaction.

"Is that the Roppongai HeroCon event All Might hoodie from four years ago?!" He nearly squealed as he took in the design. "Despite the minor weathering and sun damage, you can tell the wrist stitching is actually closest to All Might's bracer design from the Golden Age costume. They only made 482 of these!"

"Oh, you know what to look for, eh?" The Crawler chuckled. "The ensemble isn't complete without the cape buckle backpack, though."

"Oh, yes, but that was only available in select stores at Saitama!"

"I know! What's up with that!?"

"Oh great, there's two of them." Kazuho groaned.

Tamao clicked her tongue, and pointed at Toshinori. "It's even worse with the man himself sitting right there."

Kazuho's hair puffed out as she realized she was in All Might's presence.

Nighteye restrained himself from acting on the impulse to reprimand the Crawler for his blatant miscare of a unique All Merch collectible. Yes, he had four back at his office, the backpacks included, but still! He stiffly turned to Oguro, who side-eyed the blond-highlighed greenet.

"Regardless of how and why, Deku was able to make contact with two of the highest profile villains in custody to save a little girl, and right now his family and his friend are in the crossfire. Anything you can do to help would be… appreciated." He felt himself strain at the last word.

Oguro looked at Nighteye, then panned over to his daughter and charge talking animatedly with the former Symbol of Peace and what was apparently his successor. He sighed, recalling Queen Bee and Number 6… "Fine, let's see what we can do."

* * *

Koichi, truth be told, didn't really know what to make of this Midoriya kid.

He _heard_ plenty about him to be sure, plenty about the whole current first year at UA. Getting attacked on three separate occasions by villains (one of them in person), one of the students getting kidnapped, the whole _mess_ that was Kamino shortly after.

And now this whole… Yakuza business.

Getting the shortened version from Oguro was enough to make his head spin, even after all he went through himself. Seriously though, this Overhaul guy makes that whole "Villain Factory" business look like a bad case of the flu.

And that "flu" nearly _killed_ Koichi, _several times,_ so that was saying something.

Midoriya looked determined, focused, and considering the stakes that was to be expected. But he sure as hell didn't look _confident_. Whenever he had a moment alone, even as they were slowly making their way to Sten- _Stain's_ previous hiding place, he worried his lower lip and clenched his fists while he muttered into empty space about plans and contingency plans and contingencies to those contingencies and on and on. Kid was wound tight, ready to spring at the first sign of something going wrong, he was _expecting_ something to go wrong at this point, after everything the past few days have thrown at him, just looking at him made Koichi feel jumpy… well, alright _jumpier_ anyway.

He must have been showing it, because he felt slender fingers gently grasp his wrist, he looked down to see Kazuho standing just close enough to twine her fingers with his and give a quick squeeze, "relax." She mutters, not looking at him while a bright pink colors her cheeks beneath her glasses, "we don't need you freaking out."

Koichi blinked, before smiling softly and squeezing back while whispering, "thanks Kuzo."

The mousy girl quickly snatched her hand back and stuffed it in her jacket pocket, "dork." She muttered, but Koichi could see the pleased tilt of her mouth as she looked away.

Tamao made a gagging sound from somewhere behind him, but he dutifully ignored her and turned to the kid, "Hey Midoriya!" The boy slowed down and looked back as Koichi went to walk beside him, "care to share what's on your mind? You've been saying something under your breath since we left my place"

"Oh!" The kid jumped a bit before rubbing the back of his head, "right, sorry, I was just… stuff for the…" The boy mumbled a bit more before he sighed and let his arm fall as he kept walking, "…never mind, just… it's nothing, nothing important."

"Bottling stuff up won't help ya know." Koichi said easily, Midoriya only bit his lower lip and stared straight ahead as they walked, "you're worried, I get it, but just pushing it away isn't gonna help anyone."

"…I know." The student sighed, slowing down a little, "just… thinking of Uraraka-san, if they hurt her or -" He stopped of a sudden, and shook his head and clicked his tongue, "no, no she's tougher then that… plus Chisaki won't have reason to hurt her where I can't see, he's trying to push me to the limit so he needs as many living hostages as he can manage, and hurting Uraraka-san won't help him with any -"

"Jeez kid!" Oguro shouted from the back of the group, making Midoriya choke on his rant, "you just go off like that all the time, or is it the stress?" He was looking at him with a crocked scowl, "you messed in the head or what?"

His daughter quickly smacked him upside the head, having to jump slightly to reach, "old man, watch your mouth!"

"No, no it's okay!" Midoriya turned around and waved his hands nervously, "he's right I kinda go off the rails when I have too much on my mind." He rubbed his head, "and today has been… a trial."

"Then try and get some of it off your chest." Koichi reasons simply, shrugging his shoulders, "maybe…tells us about this uh…Eri? The girl you rescued, all the news seems to be talking about is the whole kidnapping bi- _ow!"_

Kazuho smacked him again, "don't you have a damn filter!?"

"She's… scared." Deku said of a sudden, almost to softly to hear, "she likes strawberries and apples. And she… doesn't have anyone to take care of her." He sighed, "she… kinda attached herself to me since I rescued her, she barely trusts anyone else."

Oguro looked at his daughter from the corner of his eye. A pointed, but not unkind, stare made him wisely keep his yap shut.

Midoriya smiled, more genuinely this time, "but she has a big heart, and she's braver and kinder then she thinks, she always puts other people before herself and she's -" He stopped of a sudden, the smile slips. "…she's very tired."

The vigilante group, along with All Might and Nighteye, exchanged worried glances. Even Tamao seemed a bit uncomfortable, which was a surprise for Koichi, who cleared his throat and put a hand on the kid's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, "hey… at least she has you right? You said she got attached, so it's… better then nothing?"

Kazuho huffed, "smooth one."

Deku seemed encouraged though, "yeah, though I'm beginning to think she might be getting a little _too_ attached…"

"What, she started calling you big bro or something?" Tamao piped up again from the back, twining some hair between her fingers in boredom, "kids do that when they're that young y'know? Everyone who takes care of them is some kinda family, s'natural."

"Yeah, like what you did with your second babysitter." Oguro smiled gruffly down at his daughter, who flushed red and whirled to face him, "called her auntie, right?"

She smacked him again, "that was _not_ an invitation to volunteer information you old coot!"

"Well…" Midoriya rubbed the back of his head, face tinged pink, "sort of… less big bro and more… papa…"

There's a quiet lull after he says… _that,_ and Koichi can only gape. The implications of that are… odd, to say the least. Koichi feels a little cold when he realizes how easily he can imagine the process, Midoriya must have been literally the first person she found she could trust in her _entire life,_ what else would a little girl, alone and scared and confused, call someone like that?

The kid himself looks a bit embarrassed, and who could blame him, but also a fair bit flattered, Koichi could see a pleased tilt to Midoriya's lip as looked away.

Koichi rubbed his chin as he thought of it himself, thought that it must be nice to have someone trust you _that_ much.

"Holy shit." That mutter came from both Kozuho and Tamao, the latter scratching at a spot under her eye-patch.

"Midoriya…" All Might muttered, caught somewhere between awe and disbelief, and Koichi finds himself wondering, not for the first time, about the exact nature of the relationship between the hero and his student.

Nighteye merely huffed out a short breath while adjusting his glasses, keeping quiet.

Master Knuckle, on the other hand… he stared hard at the back of the kid's head, something in his gaze reminding Koichi of the first few weeks after they first met, where he clobbered any so called villain at the slightest suspicion that they might deserve a beating.

Only there was no playful, rueful grin on his features, now his lips were set in a thin and harsh line on his face, his eyes rough stones.

Koichi put himself between his master and Midoriya, almost on instinct, before Oguro could finish taking his first step, " _Master…"_ He stressed quietly, raising his hands palms forward to stop him, "I _know_ that look, whatever you're thinking of doing -"

"Out of the way Koichi." He commanded quietly, his fists clenching at his side, "there's something I gotta knock into that kid's head."

In the beginning, Koichi would have cowered and flinched away from just that, kept quiet and kept his head down without waiting for a better reason other the being scared. But Koichi was not nineteen anymore, and it was going to take a lot more then that to get him to move.

Tamao doesn't look in the least bit surprised, and further doesn't move to help Koichi stop her father, though there's a bit of wariness in her eye.

Kazuho, on the other hand, nearly springs to stand by him, eyes flashing furiously in a way he hadn't seen in a while, he missed it, " _no knocking!"_ She shouted while pointing a furious finger at Oguro, a glare behind her glasses as the three guests to Naruhata, unfamiliar with this unique dynamic, looked on in shock. "Whatever got stuck into your head you crazy old man, I _really_ don't care, you are _not_ just going to-"

"Not gonna hit him." Oguro interrupts, almost tired, before Kazuho could _really_ get going, "kid just needs to hear something from some who actually _earned_ that title."

Koichi's eyes looked behind his master to look at Tamao, waiting for her to say something scathing or sarcastic to undercut her father, but she was quiet, her eye and face relaxed and patient.

He and Kazuho share a look, first with each other and then with Oguro, before quietly shuffling out of his way, the older man nodding his head briefly before he walked to stand before Midoriya.

The height difference was, frankly, ridiculous, the boy's head barely reached the man's chest.

"Papa." Oguro grumbled quietly, looking down at the student with a stony glare, "that's what she started calling you, that right?"

The hero student fumbles with his words for a moment before he nods, "y-yes, yes sir, that's right."

There was a sustained second of silence before the ex-hero spoke again, "sorry if this's too personal, but I like to cut to the chase, you ever know your dad, kid?"

"Dad!" Tamao yelled out, finally speaking up, face flushed with secondhand outrage, "you can't just ask shit like that -"

"No." Was the sudden, firm answer from Midoriya, effectively shutting up everyone around him. Tamao's teeth clacked against each other as she closed her mouth, All Might had an odd, pained look in his eyes of a sudden, while the rest simply watched. "He left to work abroad before I was three, I only ever saw him in photos, he doesn't even call."

That statement was detached, cold, practical, as if he had to answer that question a thousand times before and the reality of it simply turned numb and meaningless to him. Koichi suppressed a shudder.

"Sorry about that." Oguro did not sound even slightly sorry, nor pitying, and went on, "but that means I gotta give you a crash course in what being a dad actually _means."_

 _"_ I know -"

"You _think_ you know." Oguro stopped him with a pointed finger between the eyes. "You _think_ you know, because you have teachers and watched movies and read books, you _think_ you know what it means, but trust me you don't."

The man took a deep breath, while everyone just stared at him.

"It means trying your hardest with even the tiniest things, it means being scared out of you mind when ever you don't have her in your line of sight, it means forcing yourself to trust her before she resents you for treating her like a kid." Tamao bit her lip, but said nothing. "It means planning things years in advance, changing those plans on a second's notice, and, more then anything, it means screwing up."

Midoriya had his fists clenched at his sides, silent.

"It means being _told_ you screwed up, repeatedly, for years, and taking it on the chin because you _know_ you screwed up." Oguro's voice went strangely thick for a moment, Koichi looking away while he took a breath. "And it means picking yourself up after every screw up and _vowing_ to do better, because she _deserves_ better from you."

The kid never once looked away from the former hero, his eyes never leaving the stone gaze of his elder.

"This? This rescue mission?" A mirthless smile stretched his lips. "Putting that yakuza upstart behind bars where he belongs is the easy part, everything _after_ that is what will _earn_ you that _papa_ title." He leaned down, his nose half an inch away from the boy. "Provided, of course, that you _deserve it."_

Midoriya, seemingly without meaning to, copied the man's smile, his eyes still not leaving his. Koichi was actually a little impressed.

"A hero is one thing, a father is quite another can of worms." He leaned back and crossed his arms, the smile widening to a challenging grin, "you prepared to be both, kid?"

Something lit in the student's eyes, a steely fire that made his spine straighter and his smile brighter, "yes." His voice didn't waver, didn't wobble or crack, it was the resolute answer of a hero.

Koichi would have to remember to ask him for an autograph as soon as he graduates.

"Good." The old man nodded, uncrossed his arms and looked around, seemingly already dropping the subject, "we're close." He muttered, looking at the crumbling buildings around him, "just a few more blocks to that hideout."

He walked past Midoriya, patting him on the shoulder as he went.

Midoriya watched him walk for a few steps, before squaring his shoulders and following suit.

A brief, shocked silence passed through, All Might being the first to break it with a cough, "Oguro has changed quiet a bit since I last saw him." He looked aside at Tamao, who was trying to discreetly wipe her eye, "I suppose you would be to thank for that, young lady."

"I wouldn't know," was the flippant, if slightly chocked, answer before she started following her father's footsteps, "as far as I remember he was always this crazy."

All Might looked at Kazoho, who shrugged, "don't look at me." She muttered quietly, "I never know what's going on inside that guy's head."

"Nothing you need to worry about." Tamao said lightly, bumping her hip with the other girl and putting an arm over her shoulder to get her to come with her, the pink haired girl only lightly protesting.

Koichi only shrugged before turning on his heel to join them, some of the nervousness he had floating away.

Nighteye was utterly silent, only making a sound when he started following All Might as they went on.

After another short and quiet five minute walk, they found it. A large, mostly dilapidated building near a housing project, there were various "scheduled for demolition" signs around the entrance and a surrounding metal chain-link fence, but they looked old and torn.

As far as Koichi could see, no one has been here for years, not even the hero killer himself.

Dust floated up in the air as they climbed up the crumbling stairs, all the adults in the group poised to grab the younger ones and leave in the case this rotting flight collapsed on itself.

Then, finally, they reached a door to a room. The door was covered in various chains and locks, the lot of it covered in rust and dust from misuse. Before he could ask how they were going to open it, Knuckleduster took something metal out of his pocket, slipped it over his fingers, and smashed the door inwards clean off it's hinges.

"Still got it." Oguro muttered with a smirk as they stepped inside, "so, what are we looking for, kid?"

The room was full of cabinets and drawers, some slightly ajar and holding clothes, others musty with the smell of dried up and dusty food rations. It had the look of a bomb shelter that no one got around to finishing.

"A locker with a numeric code lock." Midoriya answered shortly, moving aside various fallen debris as he looked, "I have the code to unlock it from Stain, it should have some equipment that could help us."

Koichi had the sneaking suspicion that what the Hero Killer considered "equipment" most other people, who weren't criminally insane, would consider "murder weapons", but choose not to voice that particular thought, last thing this trip to a crumbling building needs is a jinx.

It took awhile, pieces of the ceiling fell apart around the room years back, and moving them took several people at a time, but at last they found it, hidden away in a corner behind a drawer filled with canned food and further hidden inside a nook in the wall.

Oguro pulled it out with the help of Nighteye, who stared at the locker dubiously, "open it Midoriya," he shot a pointed stare at his intern, "let's see if this trip was worth the time investment."

He nodded, and quickly started inputting the key to open the locker, Koichi looking over his shoulder as he entered the numbers: 050321-

"Wait a minute." He muttered out loud, a dizzying numbness flowing down his fingers, "isn't that-"

"All Might's debut date, yeah." Midoriya sent him a sheepish smile over his shoulder before he went to finish keying the code, as if he could sense and sympathize with Koichi's shock.

"Huh…" The former vigilante mumbled to himself, rubbing the back of his head, "I share a fandom with a serial killer." He scrunched his nose in discomfort at the thought. "Geez…"

"Don't think about it too much," Kazuho assured lightly, mussing the hair at the top of his head while Tamao cackled quietly behind him.

"I know I don't." All Might muttered, smirking when the three young adults stared at him.

"There!" Deku shouted of a sudden, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. The locker opened with an automatic hiss, rusty hinges protesting as the door was peeled aside. And inside the locker were… sharp things.

Very sharp things.

Many very sharp things.

Many very sharp things that seemed, mercifully, unused, or at the very least clean. Koichi swallowed the lump in his throat.

Midoriya picked up the various things in the locker, putting them aside and sorting through them using a method that escaped Koichi, stopping every time he saw something particularly interesting.

For instance, a pair of gloves and greaves that seemed to have some sort of battery attached to them at the base, but didn't react when Midoriya pointed them away and pressed a button on the inside.

He frowned before he put those down, closer to him then the rest, and kept sorting.

Soon he had a whole section of floor beside him covered in various tools and weapons, pulling at his lower lip as he thought over what to do with them.

"There's plenty of them, at the very least." Nighteye allowed, sharp eyes raking over the assortment, "though most of them seem to be in some state of disrepair, or simply broken." He picked up one random weapon, some twisted mid step between a knife and a morning star mace, "those that don't seem utterly unusable, that is."

"Hatsume-san will know what to do with them." Deku said simply, confidently, standing straight and looking at Nighteye and All Might, "we can't afford to leave any of them behind until we know which ones are useful or not."

"She'll have to work fast." Tamao muttered, eyeing the selection with some measure of distaste, "some of these things seem… half-baked."

"She always works fast." The confidence in that answer seemed to even surprise the usually aloof Tamao, who blinked at him. "For now, we need to get these back to UA."

All Might and Nighteye nodded, the latter calling for a van to come help them take all the tools. Koichi tugged at his All Might hoodie, feeling slightly useless now that the _professionals_ had what they needed from them.

"Uh…" He spoke up lamely, "anything else you need from us?"

"No." Was the short, and cutting answer from Nighteye, who didn't even look up as he pocketed his phone, "if we need assistance from you, we know where to find you."

Koichi visibly deflated, Oguro crossed his arms with a scowl and Tamao clicked her tongue at the hero. Kozuho looked ready to give Nighteye a piece of her mind when Deku spoke up again, "actually!" Everyone in the room looked at him again, "I was planning to ask you guys…"

The vigilante group looked at each other before gazing back at the student.

"Would you…" He smiled encouragingly at them, the sight reassuring in a way Koichi found vaguely familiar, "like to join us at UA? Help us more directly with this case!"

Nighteye looked utterly tired, and opened his mouth to cut this at the root, but a nudge from All Might quieted him.

Koichi was at a loss again, though an old, nearly nostalgic feeling of excitement thrummed under his skin at the thought, along side an equally old feeling of dread at the pit of his stomach. He looked aside to ask Kazuho what she thought, only to see her looking expectantly at _him_ for an answer.

Looking to his other side and behind revealed the other two doing much the same.

Koichi slowly dragged his gaze back to Midoriya, a disbelieving grin lighting his face, "geez…" He rubbed the back of his head, "this day just keeps getting crazier…"

* * *

"Sorry, kid," Knuckleduster shook his head, speaking for them all, "but if what you were all talking about earlier is true, then we have a lot of crackdowns to do."

The Crawler blinked in thought, a cold shivering up his spine. "These eraser bullets… We have to get rid of them before it gets to someone who can actually make them work as they're meant to."

"Got it in one, Koichi." The Quirkless cleaner nodded, tossing Izuku a Kevlar duffel bag. Izuku blinked before rolling it out and carefully removing the assorted sharp implements near the locker.

"Huh, you actually remembered that?" Pop Step mused.

Koichi felt smug behind his face-mask. "Can't say I'm completely hopeless now, can you?"

Tamao smirked, grabbing a knife to help put it away, a set of flat crystals forming where her nail touched the metal. "Nah, we still will, Bawler."

{Oguro Tamao - Quirk: Bejewel}

{When she touches any solid surface with her fingernail, the contact space forms flat crystals that dissolve after a certain amount of time. The length of time depends on how long contact is. Their durability depends on her own keratin levels. After the incident with the Queen Bee, she's only able to form honeycomb patterns.}

"It's the Crawler! You know thiiiiiiii-" Koichi tried to retort, but stalled as he looked at the bag Izuku had also stopped filling, also in awe.

"Oh now what!?" Kazuho stomped her foot in the air as she floated.

"That bag…" surprisingly, Nighteye responded. "That's a Bronze Age All Might Dura-Duffel… It was discontinued and unscriptedly outlawed almost instantly after someone lost their hand firing a gun inside."

"Huh… I remember that." Toshinori mused, "Marketing wanted to do something like a support item for the public, and armor defense was a thing."

"Thing can tank fire from a wave of old Uzis." Oguro shrugged, "also blocks metal from detection, surprisingly. Didn't know that it was one of yours, All Might. Picked it from a junk heap when I saw the Kevlar."

"Who dares throw away All Merch!?" Izuku, Koichi, and Nighteye roared out indignantly.

The silence following was only pierced by both girls' groans.

By the time Izuku got back to the Heights Alliance dorms, it was already 2 in the morning. He hefted the technically illegal duffel bag (it left a twist in his gut just thinking of any All Merch being illegal) filled with the multiple weapons that while he honestly hoped he wouldn't have to use, he knew could benefit from using them in a righteous way.

He just hoped Iida wouldn't ask where he got them. That was a conversation no one was ready for.

Entering the lounge, he saw a sight which made his heart clench: Eri wrapped up tightly in a sushi roll-like blanket lightly snoring. What surprised him more was seeing Tokoyami of all people sitting on a stool at the counter, slicing some apples while Dark Shadow kept an eye on the child from the back of the couch.

Izuku nearly acted on instinct, dropping the bag startling the bird-headed hero.

"Ah, Midoriya, the midnight oil burn out for you as well?" Fumikage asked, Dark Shadow not moving from his perch.

Realizing with relief his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, Izuku picked up the bag and set it in front of the couch, and then walking over to the kitchen. "Something like that, Tokoyami-kun." he said. "Making a snack for yourself?"

"For your daughter, actually." the jet-black hero-in-training said, not acknowledging the thump from the fridge being opened a little too forcefully.

"H-how did you -"

"Kirishima, who heard it from Ashido after he returned from the hospital, as I heard from him when I returned from Hawks-dono's offered internship."

 **"We've been doing shifts watching over her for when she wakes up or you got back."** Dark Shadow stage-whispered from the couch. **"Apparently the little eggy talks in her sleep, apologizing to her Papa about her Mama being taken."**

"Dark Shadow!" Fumikage snapped, grabbing his ethereal partner's body and tugging it, causing Dark Shadow to falter it's grip.

 **"Wh-whoa! Easy Fumi!"** the spirit fumbled. **"You're gonna wake her up! I'm just saying what happened."**

The raw memory still cut deep in Izuku, and now the class knew the situation, and it only got worse. But instead of crumbling, he felt his resolve strengthen.

"Thank you, Tokoyami-kun, Dark Shadow." He grabbed the apple slices from Fumikage. "I'll take it from here."

Fumikage paused, and glancing at Izuku, nodded and fully consumed Dark Shadow. "May the Dawn give you a new hope, Midoriya… all of you."

Izuku watched Fumikage disappear up the stairs before he moved back to the couch and set the plate of apples on the coffee table and then the Eri bundle in his lap, causing it to mumble out. "Papa…"

His heart broke hearing it, but he wrapped his arms around her, and whispered. "Papa's here, Eri-chan, and I promise everything will turn out all right."

"Becuz yure here…" He heard muttered into his shirt.

"Yeah…" Izuku felt his eyes fall heavy as sleep took him as well.

As soon as the sun dawned, Izuku was up, and Eri broke out of her cloth prison to hug him with all the strength she could muster. She tried rambling that it was her fault, but Izuku popped an apple slice in her mouth whenever she tried to belittle herself. Izuku let her finish her breakfast treat as he zoomed to take a quick shower and put on his uniform before setting off to the Support Department.

Izuku felt slightly silly when some of the upperclassmen passed him in the hallway. I mean, having a young child cling to you like a koala on your back, and carrying a strange bag, that would earn some looks. But he ignored the feeling as he trekked the halls.

"Now Eri-chan, I think I should warn you about Hatsume." Izuku said as they made the final turn. "She can be… very bold and straightforward, but she is a good person."

"Okay, Papa." Eri muttered.

Izuku felt the tingling of his spine as she said that. Still not sure about if he deserves to be called that as he came to the steel belted doors and paused before opening it.

 _'Wait… isn't this exactly how the last time went?'_ he thought, before he heard the distinct sound of popping.

One for All surging in an instant, he leaped out of the way as the doors began to give and narrowly missed the explosions within.

 ** _SHU-BOOOOOOOUM!_**

The dust cloud covered the hall, and a sound of flesh flattening against solid glass was heard.

 _"HATSUME!_ It's not even first period and that's the twelfth time this week!" The screech of Power Loader was like rusty gears through the dust.

"Are you okay, Eri-chan!?" Izuku turned to her, her red irises wide at the movement.

"Yes, Papa, I'm okay." she said, slightly dazed.

"'Papa'?" came an overeager voice. Looking ahead made Izuku jump as the golden crosshairs and rosette dreadlocks consumed his vision. "Did you make a sentient baby outside my influence?"

Before Izuku said anything, Hatsume was already behind him, her goggles on and squeezing Eri here and there.

"Incredibly lifelike. And you can't even see the parts! Though these wrapping will need to go, maybe seeing what makes her tick. Probably didn't have the latex skin, but that's never a surprise, considering the laws on creating robotics, but it's so cute! Power Loader-sensei still won't let me try the exam bots. How did you do it outside of Support? How!?"

"B-because she's a real person!" Izuku shouted out. He turned and backed away, feeling Eri tremble on him.

"Oh." Mei pulled off her goggles, completely nonplussed. "That makes sense, I guess. So what do you need?"

Izuku ignored her for a moment to console Eri. "Shhhhh… it's ok, Eri-chan, I'm here. I'm here."

"Sh-she…" Eri whimpered.

"I know, she didn't understand, but she's very sorry, _right_?" Izuku turned his eyes to Mei, who shrugged.

"Yeah, sure, I'm sorry. Now whaddya need?"

Izuku sighed, before hefting the bag and walking into the classroom, Mei eagerly following.

"Hm? Oh, Midoriya." Power Loader said as the three came in. "And our newest member of the student body, followed by the madwoman herself." He sighed. "Please don't tell me you chose her to be the girl's mother. I don't know how you found out I can officiate weddings, she is not worth the headaches."

"Wait, you can do that?" Mei asked, barely paying attention.

"He can. He got it in his off-season." Izuku said passively, but still a light blush on his face. "and no. Eri-chan has already chosen her mother." He plopped the bag on Hatsume's worktable, and sitting Eri on a nearby stool. "I'm here because I was hoping Hatsume could work with this for a mission."

"Right." Power Loader muttered, seeing Mei was already digging through the duffel bag. "All Might mentioned it first thing this morning that you'd be down here and what happened last night. So what's the damage, Hatsume?"

"Damage? The only real damage here is the quality of the product!" Mei snipped, holding up the corded mess. "I mean, the handler knew what he was asking for, but the emitters are partly eaten by the battery acid from lack of use! And almost every one of these blades is chipped to hell! I can fix it for you easy, but it's going to be a real good pain in the butt to update the Broker's work."

"The Broker?" Izuku asked.

"A real pain in our line of work." Majima growled. "The go-to for black market deals. If it's out there and someone wants it, or if you need something made off the books, no matter how obscure, he can find it, get it, and have it waiting for you at the start of business hours."

"And he's got cheap taste!" Mei pointed her screwdriver at them, already disassembling the first compartment. "He did a singular overlay on the wiring here. I mean sure, it increases the output, but it drains too much! You'd only get two shots max through maybe a centimeter of material before the battery is dead, and that's only if the target isn't moving! Ugh!"

"But can you fix it?" Eri asked quietly, shimmying uncomfortably when the eyes were on her.

"Fix it? Ha!" Mei laughed. "Auntie Mei is going to make this baby her own and your daddy is going to have the most fun!"

Izuku flushed at someone else calling him Eri's parent, although he could see what looked like a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Oh dear, a Class-A parent? Whatever will happen to them?"

And just like that, the emotion in the room deadened at a familiar snark.

The coiffed blond hair and blue eyes of Monoma Neito stood in the doorway. A suitcase undoubtedly with his costume inside in his hands.

"None of that before school starts, Monoma." Power Loader said.

"Oh, of course not, Nijima-sensei," Neito said coolly. "I was just dropping off my attire for additions when I happened to overhear." He set his case on a nearby table before continuing. "But really, a student parent? And 1-A's most accident-prone madman? I mean, it just shows how pathetic Class A is, compared to B. I honestly feel sorry for the kid."

Izuku felt his fist tighten, he dealt with words against himself easy, but to mock someone he cared about… No, he shouldn't let it get to him. It's just not -

"I mean, having to get stuck with her 1-A father? She must be worthless if her mother or your own couldn't take her."

"…"

Half a dozen black tendrils shot from Izuku's left hand and stretched out three meters at Monoma's head, before forcefully being reeled back in, without anyone moving. He felt his hand's skin go raw, but Izuku ignored it as he charged at Monoma, flipped him around and slammed him so hard into the hallway window it cracked end to end.

"Now I don't care what you say about me or my class, Monoma, those are all just empty words. But don't you _EVER_ call my Daughter worthless." Izuku snarled, shocking even himself. "Her mother is the nicest person you would be damn lucky to have on your side, and my mother tries so hard it hurts! If I even hear in passing that you even thought anything less about any of them… I'll make what All Might did to his nemesis look like a couple of love taps. Got it?"

Neito groaned in resistance, trying to grab at Izuku. "You damned Class-A so-NNNNGH!" Izuku continued putting pressure on his spine.

" _Got it_?" Izuku growled, his voice getting dangerously low.

"Papa?"

He stopped at the feeling of something hitting his leg. Looking down, he saw Eri gripping him like she had earlier that week when he flipped Kacchan.

Almost immediately, he tossed Monoma down the hall and knelt down to Eri's height.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Eri-chan, but you're not worthless." He brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "Just like Papa's the Deku that never gives up, you are going to be a person who helps others."

"But I -"

"That was all Overhaul. Not you." Izuku rested his forehead on hers. "We will get Mama back, I promise." He picked her up and walked back the way the came. "Let's go see if Lunch Rush can have breakfast for us."

"Mm" Eri nodded, wondering who this Lunch Rush was.

* * *

 **And now, the wait continues. The climax is building, minions! Get to reviewing!**


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